"Finding True Rest In An Uncomfortable Situation!"

Acts 12:1-7

Ushers, let the worshippers in that they may hear the word of the Lord. You may be seated in the prescense of the Lord. Amen. I want to take a strange twist on this text this morning if I may. Many of you have probably heard this text preached before in terms of being delivered or rescued or having miracles performed, but I want to take a different twist because that’s not what’s bothering me on today. Look at verse six and seven, it says that Peter was asleep in prison, and was sleeping so hard that the angel had to "shake him to wake him". And that’s what’s bothering me. I’m trying to figure out how you can be locked up in jail, bound in chains, gaurds all around you, sleeping on a cold, damp floor in a dark, cold cell, and still, and still rest peacefully. I’m trying to figure that out. And so for just a little bit of time as the Holy Spirit shall lead & guide, I want to talk from the subject of, "Finding True Rest, In An Uncomfortable Situation." "Finding True Rest, In An Uncomfortable Situation." Y’all gonna stay with me today?

My Brothers and my Sisters, if I could keep it real with you today for just a little while, I am convinced today beyond a shadow of a doubt that one of the most desiring and yet challenging things that we want is to be comfortable and to be at rest with ourselves and God while we are even yet going through uncomfortable trials, tribulations, and situations in our lives. We wanna be comfortable, somebody oughta say "Comfortable". We want to be able to go through hardships and yet still sleep good at night, not be up tossing and turning, worrying all night long about what tommorrow may bring. We wanna just "Be Easy" as the old saying goes, and just be able to trust in God and lean on God that everything is going to be alright, can I get an amen? We want to be able to go through situations with a peace, an understanding, and to be worry and stress free. And what makes that so challenging to us is that far too often when we’re going through we’re seeing things the wrong way. Somebody help me up in here! When we’re going through we’re looking at things in the natural when we really need to be looking at them in the supernatural. All we see is the here & now, the current situation, and we can’t seem to get our finite minds over "the hump" to see with our spiritual eyes that it will all work out for the good in the end. And so, and so we remain uncomfortable in our situations. And so, i’m sure now you’re asking, "Well preacher, how do I find true rest in my uncomfortable situation?" Well, i’m so glad you asked, because I too had the same question, and so I pulled Peter up the other day and I talked to him, and we had a conversation, and I said, "How in the world did you rest so easy being in prison?" And he laid some things on me as to how he did it & I feel I need to tell you in order to help you... Can I teach you for a minute?

The first reason Peter was able to rest so well in an uncomfortable situation was because of the prayers of the people of God. Look at verse five, it says, "And pray was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him." Peter had some sure nuff saints praying for him in the spirit while he was going through his uncomfortable situation. And don’t you know prayer makes a difference? Can I get a witness? Sometimes when we go through uncomfortable situations, just knowing that we have some people on our side that are praying for us can really help us through... Especially if you know that they can get a prayer through, it makes all the difference in the world. You can rest easier knowing you’ve got some people that got your back. Amen? I don’t know about you, but sometimes when i’m going through and i’m uncomfortable, just to have somebody I know & trust say "I’m praying for you!" Makes me breathe just a little bit easier. And so the first reason Peter was able to rest so well in his uncomfortable situation is because he knew he had others praying for him. Somebody oughta shout "praying" Turn to your nieghbor & tell em "Nieghbor i’m praying for you!"

But not only that, the seccond reason Peter was able to rest so well in his uncomfortable situation was because he knew that he was in the right despite what he was going through. Let me make this plain for you... The word says that Peter was placed in prison because Herod was persecuting people of the church, and so he took peter and imprisoned him because he saw that it pleased the jews. Look at verses 1-3 in the text, (Read scripture.) In other words, we see here that Peter was not being arrested because he did something wrong... He didn’t go out and steal or kill or anything like that, but he was arrested for standing up for God! And so if you’re going through an uncomfortable situation in your life but you’re still tithing, still serving God, still serving others, still lifting up the name of Jesus, and still doing things for the kingdom today then take heart and rest easy! For God’s got you! And even in the end as he did Peter he’s using your very situation to get glory out of your life! And even if you’re going through an uncomfortable situation because of something you didn’t do right, if you’ve confessed it and asked God for forgiveness, be encouraged and rest easy, for he is now using the situation for your good and your GROWTH! And so, and so the seccond reason Peter was able to rest easy in an uncomfortable situation is because he knew he had done right for God.