Chapter 31
Getting a Good Night's Sleep
The Reading: Acts 12:1-11
The Problem:
King Herod Agrippa, who came from a line of evil rulers, had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. The church leaders had become targets for persecutors, and when Herod saw that the murder of James pleased the Jews, he came after Peter next.
Peter was caught, arrested, and put in jail. Escape through his own efforts wasn’t an option. Sixteen soldiers, working 6-hour shifts in groups of four, were guarding him day and night. One soldier was chained to each side of him and the other two were standing outside the locked gate to the cell, to make sure he couldn’t get out. Not only that, but there were multiple guard posts and locked gates that had to be passed in order to get all the way out of this prison facility. It would be fair to assume that Peter didn’t know his way around this particular prison so, even if he could somehow get out of the cell, he wouldn’t know the quickest escape route.
King Herod assigned the heavy guard because he wasn’t taking any chances, He planned to execute Peter publicly after the Passover Feast, and had probably heard about how Peter and other apostles had miraculously escaped from prison before (Acts 5:17-23). He wanted to make absolutely certain that Peter wasn’t going anywhere this time.
But man’s attempts are all futile when they come up against the will of God. Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And Peter had not only God on his side, but verse 5 tells us the entire church was praying for him without ceasing.
The Turning Point:
Even though Peter knew his days were possibly coming to an end, and it must have been quite uncomfortable to be chained to two soldiers, Peter wasn’t worried and fell into a deep sleep. He knew whatever was supposed to happen would happen. He had put the situation in God’s hands, and put it out of his mind. An angel came to rescue him, but he was in such a deep sleep that the angel had trouble waking him up. Acts 12:7 says that the angel had to poke (smote) Peter in the side to rouse him from sleep.
Peter must have thought he was still sleeping, because verse 9 tells us he thought the angel shining a light in his eyes was only a vision. But even in his dreams, Peter was obedient. When the angel told him to get up, he got up. When the angel told him to get dressed, he got dressed. When the angel told him to put on his shoes and grab his coat, he immediately obeyed, even though he still didn’t know for sure if he was really awake or this was all just a figment of an overactive imagination.
The Miracle That Followed:
When Peter stood up, the chains fell off his wrists. And when he was dressed, he and the angel walked together straight out of the prison – past the guards and directly through all the gates that had previously been locked up tight but now stood wide open. Soon they were out on the street, and the angel went one way and Peter went the other – to report back to the group praying for him what had happened.
The Bottom Line:
How desperately we need sleep. But there are so many people today who aren't getting enough of it. Sometimes, because they’re on the go so much, they just don’t get enough time in bed. But often, no matter how tired people may feel, when their head hits the pillow, the eyeballs pop wide open. They just can’t sleep. Reasons for this might be …
- The mind is stuck in overdrive - planning, organizing, preparing.
- The body is just too tired.
- Worries that were suppressed during the daytime come back to mind.
- They drank too much caffeine during the day to stay alert at work.
- They watched something disturbing on TV just before bedtime.
- Even if they drift off, they wake up again too soon – body and mind still wiped out.
The medical community has experts who devote all their time to the study of sleep. They have come up with all kinds of tricks designed to help people get a good night’s rest – medications, mental thought games, stress relieving activities. People spend millions of dollars every year on sleep aides, both over the counter and prescription.
You won’t feel the peace you need to sleep soundly at night until you learn to stop worrying, stop getting angry, stop getting frustrated, stop replaying situations and conversations over and over in your mind, stop complaining, and learn to instead give your situation to God – as Peter did. Then you will experience the good sleep that God grants - peaceful sleep.
Believers are blessed. We have that "peace that passes all understanding," when we keep our minds and hearts focused on the Lord (Philippians 4:7). Because we have this peace, just like Peter, we can lay down at night and sleep soundly - getting the rest we need to serve the Lord again with energy the next day.
