Sleeping beneath the wings of God
That night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. (Acts 12:6)
There was once a competition inviting artists to paint a scene that expressed peace. There were lots of beautiful paintings of sunsets, landscapes and calm water. But the painting which won the competition was very surprising. It was a painting of a tree lashed with rain on a dark, stormy night. It was difficult to see what the painting had to do with peace until you looked closer. There, in one of the branches, was a bird’s nest with fledglings nestled fast asleep beneath their mother’s wings.
The New Testament records Peter sleeping on three occasions. The first time, alongside his two friends James and John, he fell asleep on the Mount of Transfiguration. The Lord had taken them up the mountain to see His glory, and they fell asleep. On the second occasion, the Lord Jesus took the three friends with Him into the Garden of Gethsemane. He wanted them to be with Him in His hour of greatest need, and they fell asleep. I have to ask myself how often I am asleep to the sufferings and glory of the Lord Jesus.
But in the two letters he wrote by the Spirit of God towards the end of his life, Peter speaks of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow (1 Peter 1:11). He remembers, as if it was yesterday, that he and his friends “were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16). He tells us that the Lord Jesus “received from God the Father honour and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased’” (2 Peter 1:17). Peter was wide awake to the sufferings and glories of Christ.
On the third occasion when Peter slept, he was in prison, bound in chains between two soldiers and with two sentries at the door, on the eve of his planned execution. He was so soundly asleep the angel had to strike him to wake him up! Peter was the man who discovered his utter weakness when accused of being a disciple of Jesus. But in prison, he no longer rested on his own resources. Peter rested in Christ’s love and the grace which kept him all the days of his of life. He was in the eye of a storm of persecution which cost the life of his dear friend James, but Peter slept under the wings of the Saviour he now trusted completely. I have no doubt James had the same experience.
Why does the Lord record these extraordinary events for us? He encourages us to know His love and grace in the storms of life and the peace of the One “under whose wings (we) have come for refuge” (Ruth 2:12).
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