Acts 12:13-14 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
The Greek name Rhoda means rose. Rhoda was a servant girl in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. This was the home, huddle and hub for the persecuted early church. Peter was imprisoned by Herod and could be executed the next morning, but the believers got together for an all-night prayer to pray for his release. God heard their prayers, sent an angel, and delivered Peter from the double-glazed prison. Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance (Acts 12:6).Peter went straight to Mary’s house and knocked on the door. Rhoda was excited to hear the voice of Peter and she ran back overjoyed without opening the door. However, the praying saints refused to believe that God had miraculously rescued Peter. They responded, “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” (Acts 12:15).
The church was praying with oneness but there was only one slave girl who was praying with faith. They were praying for a miracle but could not believe that the miracle was at the door. If Rhoda had opened the door, this girl’s fervent faith would have been drowned in the excitement of Peter’s miraculous release. The saints mocked Rhoda but she was persistent until they opened the door for Peter.
The perseverance of Rhoda, the ostracized slave girl, qualified her to become God’s Golden Girl.
Three attitudes that attract God:
1. Obedience: Responsive obedience attracts the favour of God. Obedience when the situation looked impossible. Submission to the direction when the path looks dark. Compliance even when the journey is tough or trivial. Simple obedience takes us to the premier list of God.
2. Obstinate: Obstinate faith even when mocked, disdained or ignored attracts the favour of God. Stubborn faith is steadfast even when sidelined or slandered. The saints concluded that Rhoda was mad as she was excited about the miracle that they had been earnestly praying for! Steadfast faith attracts God’s attention.
- Open: God opens the spiritual senses of the simple. Only the humble and the holy will see God’s will and ways. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Mockery did not offend Rhoda. Rhoda refused to be offended or to give up. She persisted and insisted that Peter was at the door. She did not give up even when the prayer warriors concluded that it must be an angel. God opens the spiritual senses of the insignificant and the simple. God’s golden girls and guys are those who have a childlike openness to learn, listen and leverage.
The pure and persistent make it to God’s golden list.
Acts 12:16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, may my faith overrule my feelings, may my diligence overtake my dignity and may my steadfastness outrun my human understanding and strength. Amen.
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