Peter's Rescue
It was the first week of Tiffany's senior year of high school.
This
meant two things. First, it was time to find a new crush for the
fall,
and second, she had to decide who to nominate for cheer captain.
The
second decision was much tougher than the first. She had been
friends
with Brittany, the most popular and most beautiful cheerleader, since
freshman year and knew that her loyalty should belong to her. On
the
other hand, Brittany was starting to drink way too often and hadn't
stayed in shape over the summer so she knew her cheerleading
would be suffering.
Tiffany's
second choice for cheer captain was Jennifer. Jennifer had never
been
very popular, but she had all of the aspects of a great leader.
She
was also the most creative of them all when it came to creating a new
dance routine. Tiffany knew the cheer squad would be
managed better
and probably perform better with Jennifer as captain but did not want
to lose Brittany as a friend.
Tiffany was lying in bed the night
before the big day of selection. She still couldn't decide who to
nominate. She told herself that she should just fall asleep and
prayed
that tomorrow morning she would wake up with the answer. Her
guardian
angel heard her prayer and showed Tiffany the perfect dream to guide
her in her tough decision.
.......Many years ago in the time
of King Herod's rule of Jerusalem, the Christian faith was spreading
like wildfire. A few men, Peter, Saul, James, and John, were at
the
head of the crusade. Many people were confessing their faith to
God
and getting baptized as a testament to their faith.
King
Herod
was getting intimidated and jealous of the praise God was receiving
rather than himself. He was the King after all! His people
should
worship him and him alone. In his rage one night, King Herod
seized
and slew James, one of the religious leaders. His next target
was
Peter. He knew that capturing and imprisoning Peter would prove
that
his power was stronger than God's. He also believed that his
people would
forsake God and praise him again.
After
a few days
had passed since James' murder, Peter was arrested and
imprisoned.
Many people wept and were outraged by this unprovoked act.
However,
everyone continued to pray to God for Peter's deliverance from the
hands of Herod. Herod could not risk Peter escaping from prison
because it would make him look like a fool, so he ordered two big,
mighty men who were twice the size of Peter to watch guard over him all
night long.
That
night God heard the prayers of the thousands
of people praying for Peter, and He sent one of his angels to the
prison cell where Peter was bound by chains between the two sleeping
guards. Peter awoke when he saw the light from the angel, but the
angel had made it so that the guards remained asleep and unaware.
Miraculously, the chains holding Peter fell away and the angel told him
to quickly stand and put his sandals on his feet, for tonight he would
be released from prison.
Peter
followed the angel past the
first and then second guards and watched in amazement as the iron gate
to the prison vanished and he was free to leave. When Peter
turned to
thank the angel for his blessing, the angel had vanished just like the
iron gate had. God had not ignored the prayers of the people, and
when
Peter returned to the church, everyone knew the mightiest and most
powerful King of all was God......
Tiffany woke up with the
dream still vivid in her mind. Peter was willing to go to prison
because of his beliefs, and because
of his beliefs he was able to escape from that prison. Tiffany is not
going to go to jail, of course, but the story showed her
that as long as she makes the right choice, she will be able to handle
whatever the consequences may be. She
finally knew what to do!
Tiffany
thanked her guardian angel for showing her the dream. She
realized
that nominating the person truly qualified to be cheer captain would be
the right decision just as Peter had praised the King who deserved to
be praised, God.
After school that day, all of the cheer
squad met in the gymnasium for the biggest day of the year, captain
selection. It was Tiffany's turn to announce her nomination for
cheer
captain. She confidently announced, "Jennifer!"
Author's
Note: Tiffany's
situation is very similar to a situation I found
myself in when I was in high school. One of my best friends was
running for class president, but I knew that the other candidate was
much more qualified. I also followed Peter's lead and voted for
the
deserving person. Luckily, my friend never had to know who I
voted for
since it was a secret ballot unlike Tiffany's nomination. I am
sure
that many of you have found yourselves in similar situations before or
will at some point so remember Peter's story.
Peter's story was taken from
the Bible, Acts Chapter
12. I have not altered the story much at all. The angel's
power to
free Peter without any trouble was fascinating to me which is why I
selected it as one of my four stories for this storybook. The
only
change I made to the original story was to interpret it in my own words
so that it was hopefully easier to understand than the King James
version.
Bibliography: King James
Bible: Acts, Chapter
12.
Image Information: Peter's
Rescue from Jail. Angels in the Bible. Weblink.