Fear

I was reading this morning in Acts 12 and the end of the chapter are finishing up the story of how King Herod had imprisoned Peter and was holding him until after Passover to bring him to public court and then the plan was to have him executed to please the Jews.  Well, it put me in mind of what we should have as far as a "fear of God". 
Peter was, of course, set free from the prison by the angel of the Lord.  The soldiers were quite disturbed by this as they woke in the morning to find that Peter was missing, the chains were still there!

18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

Herod’s Death


Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 20 He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.


21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.


24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.

Imagine the pure fear those guards must have had once they realized what had happened.  Besides that they knew immediately that they would loose their lives for letting Peter "escape".  Then for the audacious King Herod to sit and proclaim whatever he proclaimed and not disregard the comments of the people proclaiming he sounded like a god.  Amazing.  This shows how wretched a person can become and how quickly God can respond in His righteous anger by killing Herod on the spot and having him eaten by worms, which I am sure horrified the people who initially commented on him being a god at all! I wonder why sometimes that God has seemingly slowed His response to our blatant disobedience and on the other hand I am glad that He is slow to anger.  Thank you Father for your grace and your mercy and the example of love you show us daily that is long suffering.