That I have within me
Given by God
- Ahh, serenity.©
Acts 12:1-11 NASB1Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm
2 And he had James the brother of John executed with a sword.
3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well. (Now these were the days of Unleavened Bread.)
4 When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, turning him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending only after the Passover to bring him before the people.
5 So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made to God intensely by the church.
6 On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.
7 And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near Peter, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands.
8 And the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and strap on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”
9 And he went out and continued to follow, and yet he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
10 Now when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
Right now, we are we’re still in the grips of the Corona Virus (Covod-19) pandemic, but we can begin to see an end to it through God‘s blessing. But did you ever stop to think about how you’ve made it this far? I mean, how did you manage to go to sleep at night and get up the next day and keep putting one foot in front of the other during this pandemic? How did you manage to keep going when the money got funny, and your family looked to you? How did you do it?!
That Peace
Most of us were able to do that in the darkest of times (shine like a beacon set upon a hill) because we had that "peace that surpasses all understanding," which is given by God. We need to talk about that peace when this pandemic is fully over. We don’t need to go back to life as it was before because we’re not the same as we used to be! We have had a life-altering experience in that we have experienced something that several generations did not have not to. We have experienced a pandemic and survived it, by the grace of GOD, ALMIGHTY.
A Story to Tell
That means that we ought to have a story to tell. And if our story doesn’t do anything else but say, “God will,” that’s enough for some. Because if you say, “God will,” somebody is going to ask you what you mean by, “God will,” and then you can explain “the peace that you had that surpasses all understanding.” You can liken it to the peace that Peter must have had when he was chained between soldiers down in Herod's prison. GOD's child shackled to soldiers to be sure that he didn’t go anywhere because they were planning to kill him the next day, I believe.
Everything that happened to Peter down in that jail was becoming a part of the story being built for Peter to tell. And what a story it ended up being! Peter ended up with a story of his miraculous rescue to tell. (Acts 12:1-11, cited above)
And so, I say again, be willing to share that story you gained from this pandemic with somebody else. Talk about those moments that you had that you didn’t know how you were going to make it. But, look at you now; you’re almost on the other side of this thing. Tell folks about the peace that passes all understanding that now fills your soul after going to the LORD in prayer.
Talk about the God that you serve and how HE kept you through this pandemic because, I can assure you, if you talk about it and tell that story, about all of the grips that it had you, This story will go down in generational history, and perhaps there won’t be a need for another pandemic for several generations. So let’s tell our story and tell it well! And I’ll leave you with these words and if you don’t do anything else with your story, you can begin it with, "GOD will!!"
There is a peace
That I have within me
Given by God
- Ahh, serenity.©
Note - For time's sake, I did not cite the entire chapter of Acts 12, but you might find it interesting reading and it may figure into your story somehow.
Be safe.
Walking by faith,
Alma L. Carr-Jones
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