Last Tuesday night, the small group that Vickie and I attend was going to look at the 8th, 9th, and 10th chapters of Acts. So, Tuesday morning, I opened the Bible app on my computer, and began to scan through the chapters. (Come on, you know what I’m talking about. You do it too. It wasn’t like I was reading it for the first time.) By the time that I made it to the 10th chapter, I had my reading mode in high gear. You see, in my mind, I reasoned that I already knew everything about Cornelius and his angelic visitation. A few verses later, I got my usual excitement as I read, “And he became very hungry…” (I often identify with that statement), and then made my way on to the account of Peter’s trance. But then, in reading a little further, the reading brakes were applied as I read in verse 10:
“Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean…”
Are you one step ahead of me? Can you already see where I am going? On that Tuesday morning, all of a sudden, I was identifying with Peter 100%. Peter “doubted in himself…” Peter received a communication from heaven that was too much for him to wrap his mind around.
I stopped reading about Peter’s confusion in the King James Version and took the time to read other translations and paraphrases, which made my connection with Peter more secure.
Bible in Basic English – Greatly in doubt as to the purpose
Clarence Jordan’s The Cotton Patch Gospel – Was trying to figure out
First Nations Version – Troubled
James Moffatt – Quite at a loss to know the meaning
The Message Bible – Puzzled
New Living Translation – Perplexed
New Testament: Breakthrough Version – Dumbfounded
The New Testament: An Expanded Translation (Kenneth Wuest) – Completely at a loss
The Passion Translation – Stunned
The Voice Bible – Confused and unsettled
Can you also identify with Peter’s predicament? He had clearly heard (and even saw) the message from heaven, yet in his mind, he was completely clueless. Been there? Done that? Wearing the T-shirt?
Here is what I love about this situation. Peter didn’t allow his being clueless (puzzled, perplexed, dumbfounded, stunned…) about where God had him at that moment and what steps two, three, four, five, and six were to cause him to give up and abort God’s plan. The end story of Peter’s obedience is:
* It gave Peter a totally new way of thinking and ministry. For the first time, he recognized that God’s plan for mankind embraced more than the Jewish race (Acts 10:34)
* It impacted Cornelius’ entire family. I love reading that the Holy Spirit fell on “all”. No one was excluded! (Acts 10:44)
* The results are far-reaching. This gave God the opportunity to bring salvation to the Gentiles, including the person writing this post AND the person reading this post. (Acts 10:45)
I don’t know if I’ve written this post just for my benefit, or maybe a lot of individuals who are facing the fear of being clueless about where they are right now and what the steps are, two, three, four, five, and six. Like Peter, obey. Like Peter, don’t be governed by your fears. The results will be life-changing and eternity impacting!
