Day 4: The Hurt Locker

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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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…(Acts 12:6-10, NLT Bible)

Chapter 3 of the Book Too Busy Not To Pray is entitled God is Able. In it, Bill Hybels shares this particular story of the miraculous freeing of Peter from Herod’s prison. What intrigued me were the three important instructions that the Angel gave him: (1) Get up (that is, wake up)! (2) Get dressed (apparently he was not dressed)! (3) Follow me!

It was okay for Peter to be asleep and undressed while locked up in prison, but he needed to be alert and dressed for the place where the angel was going to lead him. And they came to a point where Peter was unchained and free to move, but he was still in prison. Peter did not receive his complete freedom until the Iron Gate was opened by the Spirit of God. This allowed him to walk to his destination, which was the church.

God is able to open the iron doors that have “locked” us out of our destinations and therefore have “hurt” God’s desire to fulfill His purpose for our lives. Like Peter, we are free, but in prison. The freedom may look like a great career, wonderful friends and family, and good health. However, what is hurting and hindering us from walking into places God has for us could be the iron gates of fear, bitterness, resentment, low-self esteem, or even pride.

If we are going to leave the locked places that hurt our opportunities to do great things for God, we must allow the Holy Spirit to use this consecration to prepare us. It is during this consecration that we will need to remove some old clothing and put on some new garments for the new season (hey, Spring is next week). Let’s start with the one garment that we are all required to wear: The Garment of Praise. (Isaiah 61:3)