What I’m Reading Today: Acts 12
There was a line in today’s passage that made me chuckle. It was a line that followed the explanation of Peter’s circumstances in jail (i.e. Peter was chained to two guards and had other guards posted at the door). After an angel appeared and led Peter out of the cell and away from the guards, Peter is quoted as saying: “I can’t believe it – this really happened!”
So what about that line made me chuckle?
Well, if you think about it, Peter’s life had been full of miraculous moments since he first answered Jesus’ call to follow him. He had seen sight restored to blind persons, health to the lepers, and life to the dead. In fact, just a few chapters earlier we are told that Peter himself raised the dead! In spite of this cascade of miraculous events, Peter still said, “I can’t believe it – this really happened!”
I suppose a big piece of why Peter said that was because he – like all of us – was human. Each of us have moments in our lives where we feel remarkable manifestations of God’s grace within the context of our lives. Many of us have had several such moments. Those manifestations might take the forms of things such as the appearance of just the right person in your life at just the right moment, or perhaps an unexpected vocational opportunity that changes the course of your life. There are literally thousands of ways those manifestations can occur. And yet in spite of these manifestations of grace, over time we come to take them for granted and forget about the special ways God makes God’s presence felt in the context of our lives.
Today I would invite you to do two things. First, take a moment and think back over the course of your life and claim those moments in your life where you felt God’s presence in your life in remarkable – if not miraculous – ways. Then take some time during your moments of prayer and/or meditation and ask that your heart be open to recognizing those moments in your life as they occur so you can recognize them for what they are.
Til next time…
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