BREAKDOWN (Acts Chapters 10, 12)

Peter walked on the roof top, praying as he waited for lunch.

As he prayed, he fell into a trance, and he saw a sheet come down from heaven with all kinds of animals in it.

And a voice came: “Arise, kill and eat.”

Now, here’s the thing:

Peter heard THREE INSTRUCTIONS: Arise. Kill. Eat.

He had no problem with the first ARISE).

He had no problem with the second (KILL).

But he had a problem with the third (EAT).

So, what did he do? He protested!

And he did none of them!

He allowed the problem he had with the third instruction overshadow the other two.

Inasmuch as God showed him that vision to rearrange his theology regarding how Believers should relate with Unbelievers, He took note of Peter’s reaction to several instructions when they are given at once.

He remembered how a similar thing happened centuries earlier when He gave Prophet Jonah a series of instructions like He just gave Peter.

He had told Jonah back then: “Arise, go to Nineveh and cry against the city for their wickedness has come up before me” Jonah 1:2. Jonah ran away: he couldn’t handle the THREE INSTRUCTIONS.

God also remembered quite recently when He told Saul (who had gone blind after the encounter on the road to Damascus) to go into the city, and He told a disciple Ananias: “Arise, go into the street called Straight, go to the house of Judas, ask for Saul of Tarsus: he is praying and he has seen you in a vision laying hands on him and he received his sight.”

Woah!

Like Peter, Ananias had a problem with the last part: going to meet Saul and laying hands on him! That MONSTER? No!

God realized when He gives ALL INSTRUCTIONS at the same time, there is the possibility man would have a problem with them.

He remembered when He told Abraham to sacrifice his son, He did not give him full info. Probably if He had, Abraham would have buckled like Peter and Ananias and Jonah did.

God realized the less you reveal to man, the higher the possibility of obedience.

So God decided to go back to the template He had used for Abraham hundreds of years earlier.

God realized when you BREAKDOWN instructions, man will always obey.

When man does not have the complete picture, he would follow step by step.

So, soon enough a situation presented itself for God to test this template!

Peter was jailed, chained between 4 squads of soldiers. He was fast asleep when God intervened in the situation. He sent an angel to go rescue Peter.

The angel was properly briefed from Heaven Headquarters how to handle Peter: don’t give him all the instructions at the same time, God said. Break them down one at a time!”

The angel understood and flew off to carry out the instruction…

He got into the prison and tapped Peter on the thigh:

“Don’t sleep: Wake up!” the angel said.

Peter woke up.

“Wear your sandals!” the angel said.

Peter wore his sandals groggily.

“Put on your robe!”

Peter put on his robe.

“Follow me!”

Peter followed.

No protests.

Peter did not even say a word all through.

He obeyed all instructions!

The BREAKDOWN worked!

God smiled…

He imagined if He had given Jonah same BREAKDOWN.

If He had told him, “Arise!”

Jonah would have arisen.

He would have told him, “Go to Nineveh!”

The Prophet would have gone to Nineveh.

And He would have told him, “Cry against the City!”

Jonah would have had no choice: too late to run away to Tarshish.

And he would not have ended in the belly of the whale…

Shalom,

Haruna Daniels.