The apostle, Peter, had been imprisoned with 16 soldiers guarding him. Probably expecting to follow James, the brother of John, in martyrdom the next day (see Acts 12:1-6), he was peacefully sleeping chained to two guards… the church was praying for him…even Peter could hardly believe what happened next!

The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered. So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him. Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!” Acts of the Apostles 12:6‭-‬11 NLT

Have you ever been totally surprised at the way God delivers you? You can identify with Peter, then, who just could not believe it until he needed to make his feet move in some direction! Standing in the open in the middle of the night, having left his chains behind in the jail, he moved on. He spent his life on the move for God until, tradition says, he was crucified for Jesus Christ, his deliverer. It is said he didn’t consider himself worthy of being crucified in the manner his Lord was, so asked to be nailed to the cross head first!

Have you been set free? Have you left your chains behind? The Savior is waiting for you to invite Him in.

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”
Revelation 3:20 NLT