In Acts 12 we are given an amazing testimony in which an angel comes to break Peter out of prison. I believe it happened exactly as the Bible says, but even still, there is so much more to this story than meets the eye.

Once Peter is in prison, we are told that there is fervent prayer (Acts 12:5) made for him to God from the church. They prayed without ceasing.

Then the impossible happens the night before Herod was going to kill him. Peter is sleeping in between two guards (get a mental picture here), and there are sentries guarding the prison. An angel appears and hits Peter saying, “get up quickly”. Then the angel basically tells him to “get dressed and follow me.” Peter, who had just woken up out of a sleep, did not think what was happening to him was for real, but instead a vision.

Then they pass through the guards and Peter is freed. He then realizes what has happened and in paraphrasing says, “now I really know I was set free by God.”

Let’s change gears a little. Allow me to show you how alive and full of power the Word of God truly is with a little life application. Out of this simple story, this is the revelation that I got:

There are times when we can feel trapped in a situation. We can’t see a way out, and we might even believe that “all things are possible with Christ”, but it doesn’t [immediately] change our situation. Peter was being led out of prison by an angel, and still didn’t realize that he was being set free! It wasn’t until his circumstance had completely changed could he finally say, “now I know I have been set free”.

We do the same thing, even if it’s not to the degree of being led out of jail by an angel. We get stuck in a hole (financial, emotional, etc), and even though God is making provisions and giving us a way out of the darkness, we can’t see the light. We can’t see the finished result of what God is doing.

Knowing that God is going to take care of us might not change the situation that we are in, but it can and should bring peace to our spirit. The goal is to not be moved, but to stay consistent with our faith no matter what tribulations we go through.

If God could use an angel to help Peter almost 2000 years ago, then I’d say He is capable of doing just about anything today. We just need to trust Him, and continue praying!