Acts 12.6 6 The night before Herod was to bring him to
trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Other
soldiers were guarding the door of the jail. (NCV)
Today, I’m thinking about Peter and what he thought on
the day before his scheduled execution. I’m wondering what went through his
mind as the minutes became hours and no help seemed to be coming. I’m wondering
what he prayed as he finally, exhausted, drifted off to sleep laying there in
chains between two guards. I’m thinking he was thinking: well, this is it – this is what Jesus meant when He told me how I was
going to die…
The night before is an interesting time in the lives of
people. When our oldest son died, we didn’t think the night before, that he
would. The night before, the disciples hadn’t a clue what Jesus was going to go
through the next day. The night before, Peter had only his thoughts and his
prayers and his hope in the Everlasting God that, live or die, it would somehow
all work out.
I have heard testimony from many of God’s people about
the night before when it appears the end is close. Sometimes the night before
is anxious: wondering what is going to happen when the sun comes up. Sometimes
the night before is weeping: wanting so badly for things to go another
direction. Sometimes the night before is careless: or maybe clueless that
tomorrow is going to bring something big into ordinary old everyday life. Peter
probably wondered what tomorrow was going to look like. But the night before,
God showed up.
The funny thing about tomorrow is: it never comes; the reality is it is always only right now. So maybe Peter was not
fretting or sweating – maybe he was only celebrating the Lord’s presence right now. History tells us there was a
night before but really, there was only right now, and that is where we’re
supposed to live: right now.
The old Prayer states: “Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship
as a pathway to peace. Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as
I would have it…” We only ever have right
now, and right now dictates how
we live the night before when it appears this thing we call tomorrow is going to bring something we
don’t want.
The narrative in Acts 12 says that in the wee hours of
the night before an angel from God showed up and miraculously led Peter out of
that prison; and the only execution that happened was to the guards who were
supposed to be guarding Peter. (Herod, the king thought they were in on the
escape.) God showed up at just the right moment because, although Peter
eventually died, it wasn’t because of Herod, it was because God holds the keys
to life and death and our death only comes when God says it does – not a
nano-second before.
Lord God, You do
hold the keys and in that truth I hope and trust. You are God of the Night Before but You are also God of the Right Now – and when it is time, You are always right on
time. Help me not to fret about what may or may not be but enjoy You one day at
a time and one moment at a time in these days. My life isn’t my own and I must
trust that You are also God of My Moments. Thank You. Be anxious for nothing but in everything with prayer and supplication
let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passes all
understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus – Amen.
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