TOO OFTEN WE FORGET THAT GOD HAS A PLAN FOR EACH LIFE. WHETHER WE'RE TRAIPSING THROUGH A PARK OR STANDING BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE, GOD DOES NOT ONLY HAVE A PLAN FOR EACH ONE OF US, BUT HE KNOWS HOW TO EXECUTE THAT PLAN. IN ACTS 12, WE SEE HOW UNIQUE THIS PLAN IS; IT IS TAILOR MADE FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL. JAMES' PLAN WAS DIFFERENT THAN THAT FOR PETER. HEROD DID NOT REALIZE THIS, SO HE HAD IMPRISONED PETER AND WAS BENT ON EXECUTING HIM, AS HE HAD DONE WITH JAMES. THIS KING WAS A PEOPLE PLEASER AND SOUGHT TO INGRATIATE HIMSELF WITH THE JEWS WHO WERE AGAINST THE JESUS FOLLOWERS, THOSE OF THE WAY, AS THEY WERE CALLED. SO HIS AGENDA WAS TO ASSASSINATE THE LEADERS. IMPRISONED AND FACING WHAT SEEMED LIKE IMMINENT DEATH WITHIN HOURS, PETER SLEPT. CHAINED TO GUARDS TO HELP PREVENT THE LIKELIHOOD OF HIS ESCAPE, PETER SLEPT, OR MORE ACCURATELY, SLUMBERED. WE NEED TO LEARN A LESSON FROM THIS TRIED AND TESTED DISCIPLE. WHEN IN HARD PLACES, WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE. NOTHING OR NO ONE CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD. PETER WASN'T WORRYING, HE SLEPT. WHAT AN EXAMPLE TO THOSE GUARDS ASSIGNED TO KEEP WATCH OVER HIM. UNMOVED BY DEATH OR SEEMING DARKNESS, THE PRISONER SLEPT.

HEROD HAD MADE ONE BIG MISTAKE. HE APPARENTLY DID NOT CONSIDER PETER'S GOD. HE SIMPLY LEFT HIM OUT OF THE EQUATION. THE INNER PRISON, CHAINS, GATES BARRING EXIT, AND GUARDS COULD NOT MAINTAIN THEIR HOLD ON PETER, WHEN GOD CHOSE TO SET HIM FREE. ONE ANGEL SENT BY GOD, ACCOMPLISHED THE PRISON BREAK TASK. PETER WAS AWAKENED FROM HIS SLEEP. IT TOOK HIM A FEW MOMENTS TO REALIZE THAT IT WAS NOT A DREAM. THIS IS HOW QUICKLY AND SUDDENLY GOD CAN INTERVENE AND CHANGE OUR SITUATION. WHEN LIGHT BREAKS INTO YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES, REGARDLESS OF HOW GLOOMY OR FIXED THEY MAY APPEAR, DARKNESS HAS TO FLEE. WHEN GOD SAYS AND REINFORCES FREEDOM, EVERY CHAIN HAS TO COME LOOSE. READ PS 91:3-11 AND BE ENCOURAGED. GOD DOES A COMPLETE WORK. HIS REVERSALS ARE NOT SLIP-SHOD. AT THE BEGINNING OF ACTS 12, HEROD SEEMED TO HAVE TOTAL CONTROL. JAMES WAS ALREADY KILLED AND PETER WAS IN PRISON AWAITING THE SAME FATE. HOW COULD THINGS CHANGE? EVERYTHNG SEEMED SET IN STONE. THEN GOD INTERVENED! HIS TIMING WAS PERFECT. WE END THE CHAPTER TALKING ABOUT HEROD IN THE PAST TENSE! HE WAS A DEAD MAN, WHILE PETER WENT FORTH TO DO THE WORK GOD HAD PREPARED FOR HIM. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY SEEMING DARKNESS. JUST CAST YOUR CARES UPON GOD, AS PETER DID AND REST... DARKNESS HAS TO FLEE WHEN YOUR GOD ARISES!