And laid their hands on them and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth. Acts 5:18,19
The trailer park was a rather rough looking neighbourhood as we made our way from door to door, handing out Gospel tracts and inviting people to come to the Gospel meetings. Most doors were not answered, some people refused the tracts, others accepted them timidly, and only a few were openly friendly. And then we knocked on one door that was answered by a burly bewiskered man with a rifle in his hand. We stood in shock until he laughed and said he was just cleaning his gun and for us to not be afraid. He took a tract and wished us a good day. That was an experience! I am sure others have encountered worse, and many have been threatened and warned, and even shot at! Angry people have often done their worst to discourage the preaching of the Gospel and to harrass those who have trusted Christ as Saviour. Do they always succeed? Obviously not, as our text today relates.
The apostles were preaching the Gospel and healing the sick, drawing huge crowds to the location they occupied in Solomon’s porch of the temple. The indignant high priest and his Sadducee companions couldn’t stand it. So they locked up the apostles in the local jail. How shocked they were the next day to find the jailhouse empty even though the doors were locked! None of the apostles were locksmiths, nor were any of them escape artists. No rescue squad had stormed the place by night to break the prisoners out. No, the only answer was a miracle, although the Sadducees would never admit that. But the apostles knew how they had escaped, and they gave God the glory He deserved. We also need to acknowledge that it is God, and only God, Who allows Gospel meetings to be held, Who allows Christians to meet according to His Word, and Who allows us to witness for and serve Him. Just as the apostles did as they were told and saw God move in miraculous ways around them, so we must do the same. He has given us instructions to follow, but it is not our following those instructions that brings about results, but the God of miracles Who sends His angel to intervene on our behalf.
I am sure the apostles were not happy to be placed in prison. This could not have been a pleasant experience for them. But if they had not been placed in prison, God could not have worked His miracle in deliverance and in giving the apostles a huge audience in the temple. Looking back on the experience, the apostles were certainly glad they had been put in prison. You and I are also placed in tough circumstances sometimes, and we don’t like it. But we have often looked back and realized that those tough circumstances were being used by God to reveal His power and purpose.
God is able to deliver us from our imprisonment in our circumstances. But whether He delivers or not, it is His purposes that we see. -Jim MacIntosh