I think one of the most interesting passages in Acts occurs in Acts 12. Herod was bringing about heavy persecution on the church. James had already been killed and now Peter was arrested. As Peter sat in prision the church was "earnestly praying to God for him." Suddenly the unthinkable happens and Peter is miraculously released.
However, it isn't this escape that I find so interesting but rather the responses to this answered prayer. We're told that Peter himself didn't even believe this was really happening and thought he was dreaming. But even crazier is when he shows up to the house where the people were praying for him. Now get this, these people are earnestly praying for Peter to be released (which would take the mighty hand of God) and suddenly he shows up at their front door! He knocks on the door and a little girl named Rhoda recognizes his voice and is thrilled that God has answered their prayers. However, this little girls faith was not shared by the rest of the household who tell her that she is out of her mind to think that Peter is at the door!
It is if they are saying "don't bother us, we're busy praying for Peter to be released!" Now, I am not trying to read something into this that is not there but it seems as if Luke is making a point here to pray earnestly yes, but also to trust that God hears and answers!
I thought about this story this week as I've had some issues with my health. On Tuesday night I had a fever and some issues with my stomach. We were going to drive to Niamey in the morning and meet with a French doctor and Parker and Cephas prayed for me that I would be completely healed and the doctor would not be able to find anything wrong with me. So the next morning we went to the doctor and he ran some tests on me and told me "all your tests came back negative."
Now I wish I could tell you that I was like that little girl and was overjoyed that God had heard the prayers of his children and answered with healing but I need to be honest. I was surprised at the results and even thought to myself "he needs to run it again, i know how I felt yesterday, I know something is wrong with me."
What a humbling realization of my own faithlessness! How often do I pray for things with at least some part of me not expecting God to move? May we come to our Father with the faith of a child. May we trust that God not only speaks to us through His Word but he also hears us through His Word that became flesh.
Yes, that is right, we are giving meningitis vaccinations out of the back of our truck.
They come from far and wide to get poked with a needle. This is just a fraction of the 1100 children that were vaccinated those 2 days in January.
A little too young to be vaccinated but definitely worth having her picture taken.
Mark's job was to give pain relievers to the kids after their shots. Every once in a while, there'd be a bleeder & Mark would step in to the rescue.
Cephas and I had the lovely job of filling out the info cards on the kids (and a little crowd control every so often).
