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.
But not only that, not only that, a third reason Peter was able to rest easy in his uncomfortable situation is because he simply trusted God. He knew God had his back. And how many know it pays to trust in the Lord? Can I get a witness in the house? It pays to trust in the Lord. When you know that God has your situation and is in absoloute total control of it you can rest easy. When you give him ALL of your burdens, and cast ALL your cares upon him, he is willing and able to give you true peace and rest! And that is the ultimate secret to finding true rest! Resting IN HIM! Ohhh I wish I had somebody, ha, that knew what I was talking about! I don’t know how you feel about it on today, ha, but it’s one thing, ha, to go through, ha, and not have the Lord, ha, on your side, ha, but it’s a little easier, ha, to go through, ha, with him, ha, I’d rather have Jesus, ha, than anything, ha, you can take the money, ha, you can take the car, ha, you can take the houses, ha, the job, ha, the honey, ha, and my friends, ha, but whatever you do, ha, don’t take, ha, my Jesus! ha, because as LOOOONNNGGG, ha, as I got King Jesus, ha, he’s ALLLLLLLL that I need! ha, I feel like preaching! Ha, can I go ahead and just be real, ha! Well now, ha, look at the text, ha, we find ourselves ha, in the book of Acts, ha, chapter 12, ha, around verse 1, ha, King Herod, ha, has stretched his hand, ha, against the church of God, ha, and he’s looking, ha, to take some lives, ha, and the word says, ha, he takes the life of James, ha, the brother of John, ha, with the sword, ha, James is dead now, off of the scene, ha, and then, ha, because it pleased, ha, the Jews, ha, he took Peter also, ha, and verse 4 says, ha, that when he had taken Peter in, ha, he put him in prison, ha, and delivered him, ha, to four quaternions of gaurds, ha, to keep him, ha, I did a little research, ha, and quaternion means "4", ha, so he had 16 gaurds, ha, all around him, ha, and I don’t know about you, ha, but that many people ha, around me 24/7, ha, would be awful, ha, uncomfortable! Can I get a witness, ha? And so now, ha, the word says, ha, that Peter was kept in prison, ha, but that the people of God, ha, were praying, ha, for him, ha, without ceasing, ha. I need to stop right there and pump my brakes for a minute, ha, because I don’t know about you, ha, but I thank God, ha, for everybody, ha, that prayed, ha, for me, ha, while I was in, ha, my uncomfortable situation! I THANK GOD, ha, for prayer! ha, if you thank God, ha, for those that are praying, ha, for you, ha, then throw your head back, ha, put your hands up, ha, and just say "THANK YOU JESUS!" Ohhhh, I feel like going crazy, ha, I feel like coming up outta my clothes, ha, I’ve gotta keep pressing though! Look at the text, ha, verse six says, ha, that now we’ve got Peter, ha, on the night before he could have been put to death, ha, and he’s bound in chains, ha, between two gaurds, ha, on a cold, damp, floor in a dark dreary cell, ha, gaurds at the door, ha, seemingly no way out, ha, and he’s knocked out sleeping like a baby, ha, I see Peter snoring, ha, y’all ain’t getting the picture, ha, the Bible says, ha, look at verse seven, ha, an angel of the Lord had to come upon him, ha, and shake him awake, ha, and when he woke, ha, watch this, ha, God moved! ha, glory! ha, the chains fell off of his hands ha, and he was miraculously, ha, set free! Well now, ha, what are you saying preacher? ha, I’m going back to my seat ha, but the Holy Ghost, ha, just dropped on me, ha, that the reason why, ha, some of y’all can’t get delivered, ha, is because, ha, you’re not resting in him, ha, you’re not trusting in him, ha, you’re not giving him all, ha, of your situation, ha, and until you make up your mind, ha, to stop worrying, ha, stop losing sleep, ha, stop getting mad, ha, angry, ha, and frustrated, ha, stop crying, ha, stop mummuring, ha, stop complaining, ha, and GIVE YOUR SITUATION, ha, TO GOD! ha, he’s not, ha, going to deliver you! ha, he wants to be Lord, ha, of your life, ha, and as loooonnggg as you’re still trying, ha, to be in control, ha, HE CAN’T DO IT!!!! ha, I dare ya, ha, no matter what you’re going through today, ha, GIVE IT TO GOD!!!! GIVE IT TO GOD!!!!!!! I SAID GIVE IT TO GOD!!!!! STOP WORRYING!!!!!!!! STOP LOSING SLEEP!!!!!!! I KNOW YOU’RE ANGRY!!!! I KNOW IT HURTS!!!!!!! I KNOW YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND!!!!! I KNOW YOU’RE TIRED!!!!!!! BUT GIVE IT TO GOD!!!!!!! AND IF YOU GIVE IT TO HIM, HA, HE WILL, HA, I SAID HE WIIIIILLLLLLLLLL GIVE YOU REST!!! GIVE YOU REST!!!!!!!!! GIVE YOU RRRREEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!! SHOUT YES!!!!! SHOUT YES!!!!!!! SHOUT YES!!!!!!!! SHOUT YES!!!!!!! SHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTT YEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He’ll give you peace! I said I said he’ll give you peace!!! SOMEBODY OUGHTA SHOUT PEACE!!!!!!!!
I’m done, i’m done! I’m tired now... I don’t know who i’m talking to... But God says to me there’s somebody in here right now, you haven’t given God your uncomfortable situation. You haven’t turned it over to him. And the truth of the matter is, God won’t allow you to rest comfortably or to be delivered from whatever it is you’re going through until you GIVE IT TO HIM completely! So if you’re here today, and you know you’ve been holding back from God, and you want to experience true rest & peace in him, I ask you to come down to the altar now, as the choir begins to sing softly. And I will pray for you and your situation, as you give your all to Christ. Can we sing that old hymn of the church, "I Surrender All"? All of God’s people are standing to thier feet, as the doors of the church are opened...
