Scripture reading for today: Acts 12; Psalm 111-112
Many miraculous experiences happened in the early church AND the early Christians faced all sorts of trials and tribulations. Does that remind anyone else of the process of recovery? Recovery is messy – some days are good, others are yucky. We’re not alone in this process – check out the book of Acts.
The early believers were doing a lot of things right AND a lot of things wrong (don’t forget Ananias and Sapphira). Peter got locked in the slammer and faced certain death but God set him free. Peter couldn’t believe that he was really free, nor could his friends (all of whom had been praying for this very freedom). Is it bad that they didn’t believe God would hear their prayers and answer with Peter’s freedom? When Peter realized he was truly free, he scurried off to his friends’ house. When Rhoda heard Peter’s voice, she ran to the door overjoyed. But instead of answering, she ran back inside and told everyone of Peter’s arrival. They called her crazy, insane, loco. They even found it easier to believe his angel was at the door than Peter in the flesh. Eventually, everyone gathered their wits and rescued Peter from the front stoop. (Read it – you’ll love it!)
As we keep reading we see that Herod, because of his response to some delegates from other towns (who were there to flatter and regain his favor), gets consumed with worms and dies. (If you want to see what Herod did that I personally think was worthy of a good worm eating, you may want to read Part 3 of Finding Our Way Back to God – on the web.) This guy had done a lot of really bad things. Why was this the thing that was worm worthy?
“Coming to believe” is still mysterious to me. Great miracles are mixed with enormous trials while mere mortals sit around and try to make sense out of the mighty workings of God. Maybe one of the best things that could happen to any of us during this month in step two would be to stop trying to figure out what God is up to all the time, and instead try to figure out what it means to live out our true, God-created selves every moment of every day. Finding our way back to God is an experience not unlike the early Christians lived–wild and mysterious, miraculous and debilitating, delightful and discouraging–all rolled up in a messy stew of living large.
Part of the insanity in how we live is the way we rush to make value judgments. Am I having a Holy Spirit moment because it makes me happy, or because I recognize the voice of God even in the midst of discouragement and despair? Coming to believe doesn’t promise us a pain-free existence. Our level of pain doesn’t always indicate the “rightness” or the “wrongness” of how we’re living. Sometimes pain is our friend, because we are trying a new way that, while uncomfortable, is much more “right” than our old way of living.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.Psalm 34:18-22 NIV