Angels Are Powerful

As you sit in your cold, damp cell, you ponder the events of the day; maybe even the events of the past few years. Life has been a whirlwind of late, but you have never felt more peace and calm than now.

God has blessed your life in so many ways it is difficult to count. He has allowed you to spread the Gospel around the world and see thousands come to Christ. The miracles performed by your hands have been nothing short of amazing.

Watching the Holy Spirit work with the simple mention of Jesus has been something to behold. People have been healed, delivered and changed by the sound of the name of Jesus Christ. But it has not come without a price. Powerful people have been offended and have plotted for your demise.

They have tried to shut you up; they even killed your friend James. Nevertheless, you continue to proclaim the Good News. Now, you have been arrested and put in prison; waiting for the morrow to proclaim your death sentence. Even so, you have the calm that you have never experienced before.

Death no longer holds fear. No, it brings excitement and victory. Tomorrow you get to go home to live with Jesus for eternity. With that thought you gently fall asleep; a sleep like no other; the deep sleep of satisfaction, not the restless sleep of the condemned.

As you sleep you feel a gentle nudge and believe it is part of your sweet dream. You do not awaken. Then, you feel the kick in your side like that of a close friend telling you to, “Wake up!” As your eyes open you see the bright light filling your cell. You think, “I know this is a dream.”

Standing before you is an angel of the Lord telling you to get up. When you do the chains fall off of your ankles and wrists. But you know you are dreaming so you go along with your deliverer quietly. The truth is, you begin to laugh at the scenario, because it can’t be true. You think again, “I know this is a dream; it is even sort of comical.”

As you follow your deliverer your mind goes to tomorrow on the day you are to be killed and think, “This is the Lord giving me even more peace to ready me for what I must face.”

You pass the second and third gate and now you know it is a dream because the guards make no effort to wrangle you into submission. You come to the main gate and it opens automatically. Then you walk into the street and the angel disappears.

At this point you come to your full senses and realize that God has sent an angel to free you from the prison.

This is the scenario found about Peter in Acts 12. The true account of Peter in prison shows the power of the angels who are working on your behalf. Peter was walked through a guarded prison in plain sight, but undetected because of the veil placed over the guards by the angel.

Even though we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, perhaps the Lord sometimes send his angels to bolster our faith.