Day 184

DAY 184

ANGELS PLAN PRISONBREAK!

Job 25, 26 & 27 and Acts 12

I imagine the headlines of the local Jerusalem Times might have read as my title of today’s blog. Angels are afoot doing God’s work in the Acts of the Apostles today: not only do they plan a prison break, but they deal with an arrogant king.

Always looking to expand his popularity and influence, Herod comes to realize that killing Christians increases his political capital with some of the people. He kills James the brother of John and then seizes Peter.

What springs the angels into action? It would appear to be prayer! Here is Peter, with a very significant security detail holding him prisoner, apparently on the verge of death. But there is another very significant group of people mustered: people praying. Their prayer has the effect of causing angels to spring into action and Peter is freed.

More than debate, more than “right theology,” more than most things we can do, prayer, moves mountains. Sometimes the mountains are visible and external such as a jailed prisoner being set free. Other times prayer moves internal mountains, mountains in our hearts and minds. One of my favorite authors is C.S. Lewis. In a movie about his marriage to Joy Davidson there is a moment, after Joy has been diagnosed with cancer, that Lewis is going to Evening Prayer at university. The university is a fairly hostile place to people of faith. The movie scene has Lewis walking into the chapel, when one of his colleagues asks a brutal question, “Going to pray to your God to change his mind about your wife’s cancer?” I am stunned when I hear this cruelty. Lewis responds, “I don’t pray expecting me to change God, I pray expecting God to change me.” As I said, some days prayer leads to external mountains being moved, and other days it is the internal mountains.

Keep praying, who knows, maybe it will be lead to angels being afoot!

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regarding Job, we are getting close to the culmination of the story. Bildad has a short response, but then Job begins his final discourse. This speech will go on for several chapters and we will take a look at it in the next few days.