Read
Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
(Acts 5: 17-21)
Think
Filled with the Spirit of God, seeing tongues of fire dancing round the room, thousands joining the church in a single day, prayer meetings that end in earthquakes, one person after another rejoicing as their bodies and minds are made well.
Jesus followers still face real threats, real hardship, real persecution – but there was then – as there must be today – an unavoidable sense that they were caught up in something bigger than themselves. There was and is a power at work on their behalf and to see the church built that took priority over their plans and dreams, and over their own comfort and fears.
So it is that the disciples end up in serious trouble, in prison for the sake of Jesus and his gospel. In the night an angel comes to set them free, and instead of telling them to go to a different town and start again, they’re told to go right back to where they just got caught and carry on. And rather than waste time worrying, these men and women are so caught up in wonder, so aware that what’s going on is way bigger than them, that they simply obey.
Do you have that same sense of wonder? Why not read Acts, or Revelation, and allow God to show you more of how grand he is. Pray and ask to see and know him better. Serve in whatever way you’re able, and watch what God is able to do with someone who is simply available to him.
Pray
Father God, praise you that you are superior in every way to every other thing. Thank you that through Jesus you have called us into something so much bigger than ourselves – something worth getting in trouble for, something worth living for, worth dying for.
Help us to see you more clearly – more of your mighty hand at work on our behalf and to build your church, more of your kindness and faithfulness, more of your passion to see all come out of the darkness and into your light.
Amen
