What is normal?

Whenever we get a visitor at our front door, our children become elated.. Even if it is our friends who live less than a kilometre away. The little girls squeal and jump and come running to me to tell me they are here... Occasionally, we have unexpected visitors - people we have not seen for a long time who have just decided to drop by. When the children tell us, we don't really believe them and just walk to the door to check..

Where is this going?

Two thousand years ago, people were exactly the same as us. It is easy to think that it must have been different back then as time separates us. It needs to be said, that even though they had slavery and harsh persecution, the people still lived their everyday lives. What we consider to be hardships, they lived through as being normal. In years to come, we will look at our lives as being normal as do our parents who were bought up in legalistic societies ( I am referring to the rules that were imposed on people, for example: card games being gambling, the taboo on girls wearing jeans, drinking/music being from the devil).

Reading from Acts ch12 from JB.Philips version:

v6- "On the very night that Herod was planing to bring him out, Peter was asleep between two soldiers, secured by double chains, while guards maintained a strict watch at the doorway of the prison. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, "Get up quickly." His chains fell away from his hands and the angel said to i, "fasten your belt and put on your sandals." And he did so. Then the angel continued, "wrap your cloak round you and follow me." So Peter followed him out, not knowing whether what the angel was doing were real - indeed he felt he must be seeing a vision. They passed right through the first and second guard-points and came tot he iron gate that led out into the city. This opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and had passed along one street when the angel suddenly vanished from Peter's sight. Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel to rescue me from the power of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting." As the truth broke upon him he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John surnamed Mark, where many were gathered together in prayer.
As he knocked at he outer door a young maid called Rhoda came to answer it, but on recognising Peter's voice failed to open the door from sheer joy. Instead she ran inside and reported that Peter was standing outside. At this they said to her "you must be mad!".
But she insisted that it was true. Then they said, "then it is his angel."
But Peter continued to stand there knocking on the door, and when they opened it they saw him and were simply amazed."

Can you see it?
Just try and picture Rhoda for a moment and see her jumping up and down, running with excitement to tell the others...she just couldn't think straight. How exciting would it have been to be praying and the very next second see an impossible answer to that prayer? To love a brother in the Lord so much that you are beside yourself when you hear their voice!
I have tried to put myself there in the outer door area and see Rhoda, hear Peter calling, see the shock on the faces...And all I can do is marvel at how amazing our God is!
He protects His people, and surrounds them with love & family & friends.

I need longer to ponder on the untouched parts of these verses - like the angel and how Peter just trusted and walked. The way he thought it was a vision. The consequences Herod had; how God made a way for Peter and used him to influence a town.

I look forward with anticipation to what the Lord is going to show me in this chapter.

Read it for yourself and read the following chapter to get a fuller understanding of the times our brothers and sisters lived in.. but remember this - as normal as you feel today is as normal as they felt in their day :)