Thursday, October 20, 2016

Coming to Your Senses

Today I was reading in Acts 12 about how Peter was delivered from a prison by an angel. This story is fantastically unbelievable in its details and yet it is true. Peter himself couldn't believe it until verse 11 says that, "Peter finally came to his senses."
Peter thought it was a dream sequence - a vision he was having given his current state of mind and affairs. I know what that's like - when there's something you want so bad you're obsessing over it and that obsession bleeds over to your dreams - asleep or not. I've found my own imagination so vivid at times that I can lose track of what's actually happening in the time and space around me. I'll be so focused on what I want and how I would get it and what I would do once I had it that time will simply slip by me. Maybe I'm just weird like that. Maybe Peter was too.

It's likely that he had this "come to his senses" moment because the Bible says he thought what was happening to him wasn't real. If you're unfamiliar with his situation, in a nut shell, here it is: Peter was captured by Herod for preaching Jesus and put in the custody of 16 guards. In the middle of the night, a secret agent like angel freed him from his handcuffs and led him out of the prison undetected. As it is all happening, Peter, in his mind, is sitting back chomping on popcorn watching it all play out like a scene from a movie.

Then there comes a moment where he finally comes to his senses. We don't get insight about what happened to jolt him. Did he step on a lego or hit his head? Did it start raining and the grog he was under from having been asleep lift? Who knows. All we know is that he came to his senses. He was finally able to see what God was doing. He realizes he's free. That moments ago was a prisoner slated for possible execution and now he's walking home.

As I read that verse, I began to think about my own life. I'm not in prison nor have I ever been, but I've been through some stuff in my life that have certainly felt like I was imprisoned. You can relate I'm sure. It's those situations where we've done all we can do to fix it, but we can't. We've tapped all our resources, but they've all amounted to nothing. We've struggled and cried, kicked and screamed, but we finally succumbed to the reality that we were stuck. It could be relationally, financially, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, or physically - no matter what shape it takes, it is no doubt a prison.

What's crazy is that I've been in those places, but have also come out of those places. Sometimes I remember to praise God for his goodness, but other times I'm just like Peter - I'm still in a daze. I accept what's happening, but I haven't come to my senses yet.

I'm not sure how some of your awakenings from dreams have been in the past, but I know that sometimes when I'm having a dream - awake or asleep - that it just seems to go sideways. And when it does, all I want to do is escape it. To wake up at any cost. It's almost like you start to take inventory in your dreamland state and decide something isn't quite right. Often times when I awake, I find my body tense and I'm sweating profusely. It's the worst way to wake up and yet I'm so glad to see the darkness of my room.

I'm going somewhere, I promise. Peter coming to his senses likely came as a result of taking inventory - much like we do in our dreams when all hell breaks loose. This awakening of his came from really looking around his world for a moment - to feel, look, and examine. This process caused him to come to his senses and realize the beauty of his situation - to realize he was free and see God's hand at work in his life.

So here's my thought of the day or rather my application of this verse to my life. Am I like Peter who simply needed to take inventory of his life to realize God's blessed work in my life?

In response to this question I am taking a few minutes today to calm my mind, listen to my heart, and think through my life. I'm intentionally drowning out the voices that clamber for my thoughts so I can really see all that God is doing. In doing so, I am praying that I will come to my senses so that I can see what God is doing. But I know that there is more to coming to your senses.

You see, Peter's story continues on and it shows him going from house to house to celebrate what God had done. And like Peter, I'm going to celebrate whatever God reveals to me with my family and those closest to me.

Would you do the same with me today? Comment below your blessings and moments of coming to your senses from your quiet moments and we can celebrate them together.



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