You Are Out of Your Mind
Acts 12:15 (ESV) – They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!”
Have you ever responded in a contradictory way to your own beliefs? Of course, you have. Everyone has at some point. We tell others they should forgive those who hurt them but struggle to do it ourselves. We affirm the power of God to do all things, but then act surprised at even the slightest evidence of His doing it.
Our passage today is a prime example of this trait all believers have. We read in Acts 12:15, “They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind.’ But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, ‘It is his angel!’”
The background of this text is that Peter has been in prison. While Peter is in prison, the believers are gathered together interceding for him. They are asking the Lord to free him. During that time, an angel of the Lord comes and rescues Peter. It is an amazing example of the Lord answering prayer. So Peter goes to the home where everyone is gathered and knocks at the door. A house servant answers and sees it is Peter and runs to tell everyone. Peter is left standing at the door. When the servant tells the believers gathered together, they don’t believe it.
We see in our text how they respond. They say the house servant is “out of [her] mind.” They think she’s crazy. They believe it is an angel at the door. Take this in: it was easier for them to believe an angel was there than to believe Peter was. That’s how slow we are to believe even in the very things we are praying about. They gathered and prayed for Peter’s release, yet in some measure, prayed with no expectation of God answering.
There’s a great lesson in this for us. First, it doesn’t require black-belt faith for God to answer your prayers. These folks didn’t even believe God had answered them. Second, it is a reminder that we should pray with expectation and remember God’s able. He is God. He can do all things. May God use this story to remind us of His power to answer our prayers. And may it remind us of the little faith we often have despite our public declarations of belief. I pray He closes the gap.
We should pray with expectation and remember God’s able. He is God.
He can do all things. Check out this devotion!
Reflection & Journal:
- Why do the believers think the house servant is crazy?
- What does their response teach us about our struggles to believe what we say?
- How does this passage speak to you personally? What does it lead you to do?
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