August 14
Bible Reading: Acts 12:6-11
Acts 12:6-7, “Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell.”
The people were earnestly praying for Peter, but the situation appeared hopeless. Herod had already murdered James, and it looked as if he might kill Peter, too. They locked up Peter in prison and guarded him with four squads of Roman soldiers. Besides all that, sentries stood outside his room, in which he was bound with two chains and asleep between two soldiers. Escape looked impossible. But the people were praying. God sent an angel of the Lord to set Peter free!
The Great Coastal Gale of December 2007 caused extensive damage to our Astoria church building, ultimately resulting in repair costs exceeding $900,000. They deemed the sanctuary unsafe for our meetings, so we held our services in the “Playroom,” a space barely larger than the Awana circle it housed. Despite the crowded conditions for one hundred people, we made the best of it.
Eager for the repair work to begin, we encountered a significant obstacle. Despite having good insurance, there was a $100,000 limit on “building code upgrades.” Given that our church was built in the early 1970s, these upgrades could easily surpass the insurance limit.
The local building codes office was indecisive about what should be required, leaving us in limbo. With so many parties involved in the decision-making process—the building codes department, the insurance adjuster, two general contractors, two engineering firms, and us—no progress was being made.
At that time, I was studying the book of Nehemiah, which seemed particularly relevant, and we were praying for God’s intervention. Looking back, we had no idea how the situation would be resolved. Then, one day, a state building codes inspector arrived to evaluate our situation. Together with two local inspectors, he and I toured the building. The state inspector made on-the-spot decisions regarding all the upgrade questions being considered. At the end of the tour, he asked if it would be okay if he prayed for us. He put his arm around my shoulder, and we prayed for our church and the rebuilding efforts. From that day forward, progress was made, and the building was ready for its 50-year anniversary in October 2008. I later discovered that the state inspector was a member of the Gideons. Instead of bringing us a Bible, he brought resolution to our dilemma.
God answered our prayers in an unexpected way, just as He did in delivering Peter from prison! He has His own ways of untangling our troublesome circumsances. We do well to cast our cares on Jesus, for He cares and He is able (1 Peter 5:7).
The answer to Goliath-sized problems is to pray to our greater-sized God. Nothing is too difficult for Him!
AH, LORD GOD
Ah Lord God
Thou has made the heavens
And the earth by Thy great power
Ah Lord God
Thou has made the heavens
And the earth by Thine out-stretched arm
Nothing is too difficult for Thee
Nothing is too difficult for Thee
Great and mighty God
Great in counsel and mighty in deed
Nothing, nothing
Absolutely nothing
Nothing is too difficult for Thee
LookingtoJesus 