Not a Dream

Thanks for joining us for today's encouragement from the Our Daily Bread devotional. Our reading, titled Not a Dream, was written by Monica LaRose. It's like living in a dream you can't wake up from. People who struggle with what's sometimes called derealization or depersonalization often feel like nothing around them is quite real. While those who chronically have this feeling can be diagnosed with a disorder, it's believed to be a common mental health struggle, especially during stressful times.

But sometimes the feeling persists even when life is seemingly good. It's as if our minds can't trust that good things are really happening. Scripture describes a similar struggle of God's people at times to experience His power and deliverance as something real, not just a dream. In Acts 12, when an angel delivers Peter from prison and possible execution, the apostle is described as being in a daze, not sure it was really happening. When the angel left him outside the jail, Peter finally came to his senses and realized it had all been real. In both bad times and good, it can be hard sometimes to fully believe or experience that God is really at work in our lives. But we can trust that as we wait on Him, His resurrection power will one day become undeniably, wonderfully real.

God's light will rouse us from our sleep into the reality of life with Him. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Acts 12, verses 1-11. It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also.

This happened during the festival of unleavened bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. Quick, get up, he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the angel said to him, Put on your clothes and sandals, and Peter did so. Wrap your cloak around you and follow me, the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city.

It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly, the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen. Let's pray. God thank you that in good times and bad, whether we can feel it or not, you're real and you are there creating new life and new hope. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Alisha Reisinger and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread ministries.