“Placing Little Faith in Great God Can Also Accomplish Great things 把微小的信心放在伟大的神身上也能成就大事“(Acts 使徒行传 12:11-18)
Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from … When this had dawned on him, he went to the house … where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door … and exclaimed, ‘Peter is at the door!’ ‘You’re out of your mind,’ they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, ‘It must be his angel.’ But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. … In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.
彼得清醒過來,說:“現在我確實知道,主差他的天使來,救我脫離 … 他明白了之後,就到 … 家裡去;有許多人聚集在那裡禱告。彼得敲了大門,有一個名叫羅大的使女,出來應門 … 說彼得站在門外。大家說:“你瘋了!”她卻堅持地說這是真的。他們說:“一定是他的天使。”彼得繼續敲門;他們打開了,一見是他,就非常驚訝。… 天亮的時候,士兵們非常慌亂,不知彼得出了什麼事。
Until it was time for Peter to go to his heavenly home like James having graduated to glory, he was invulnerable and could not be harmed. Peter naturally went to where he knew Christians would be gathered and praying. They should want to know that their prayers had been answered. Even while they prayed for Peter, they found it hard to believe God actually answered their prayer. In contrast to the description of the assigned high-security detail to guard Peter, ‘no small commotion among the soldiers’ is a great understatement of how greatly the escape of Herod’s prized prisoner caused him furious.
直到彼得要往天家去,像雅各已過渡到榮耀裡那時候,彼得還是安全的,而可以不受到傷害。彼得當然地去了他所知道基督徒會聚集和禱告的地方,他們理應想知道他們的禱告已蒙了應允。儘管他們為彼得禱告了,卻發覺很難相信神實在應允了他們的禱告。與特別選派兵丁高度看管彼得的描述成為對比,「士兵們非常慌亂」乃是有關受希律高度重視囚犯的逃獄如何大大引起他憤怒的極為輕描淡寫的陳述。
Prayer: Abba Father, the reasons you do such things, or do not do them, are often beyond our understanding and known only to you. Nevertheless, the natural, true-to-life feel of especially these accounts of Peter experiencing an angelic deliverance prompts us to accept not only their reliable, historical character but also our resemblance to the realistic spirituality of those involved. Our prayers might be earnest but our faith could often be not overwhelming. Thank you for encouraging us that little faith can accomplish great things if it is placed in you who is the great God. Amen.
禱告: 阿爸父啊,你做或不做某些事情的原因,往往超乎我們的理解,並只有你才知道。不論怎樣,特別是這些彼得經歷天使解救的敘述中,那自然、真實生活的氣氛促使我們去接受不單只是它們歷史可靠性的特徵,而且是我們對那些相關的人真實靈性的相似。我們的禱告或許是迫切的,但是我們的信心往往並非是壓倒性的。感謝你鼓勵我們,微小的信心如果是放在偉大之神的你身上,也能夠成就大事。阿們。