When [Rhoda] recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.”

—Acts 12:14-15

Let’s set the scene. By the time we get to Acts 12, some important things have happened. Jesus has ascended. The Holy Spirit has come and empowered Christians as they scatter and spread the gospel throughout the nations. Saul has already become a new creation on the road to Damascus. And Peter has already had the vision leading him to share the gospel with the Gentiles, starting with the Roman centurion Cornelius.

Most of that would have been pretty exciting to witness or experience. God was clearly on the move!

Persecution in the Early Church

But when we get to the beginning of chapter twelve, we get a reminder of why this was also a scary and challenging time to be a part of the church— “Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword” (verses 1-2).

This was a time of a lot of Christian persecution. Anyone who wanted someone to blame for something would likely turn to blaming Christians, and if Christians were to blame for their problems, that meant it was okay to punish them.

King Herod got in on the action by putting John’s brother James to death, and since that went over so well, he decided he’d try it again with Peter.

Peter had been captured and placed in prison, and his execution had been scheduled for just after Passover. Things didn’t look good for him.

The Church Prays for Peter

In response, we find out a few verses later that a large number of people had gathered at the home of John Mark’s mother to pray earnestly for Peter. We don’t get much insight into how they were praying—we don’t know if they were praying for deliverance or a quick and relatively painless death—but what we do know is that the first place Peter thought to go was to see the group gathered there.

Rhoda Hears Peter’s Voice

But I think the most interesting part of this story happens after Peter knocks on the door, asking to be let in. Rhoda is so excited to see Peter that she never opens the door. She just runs in and starts telling people that Peter is outside. If they had AFV back then, I’m pretty sure a video of this scene would have made the cut.

The problem is that no one listens to Rhoda. Voices pipe up, saying that Rhoda’s just crazy or that it’s actually Peter’s angel who’s at the gate. But they don’t listen to the voice that matters. The voice that was speaking the truth.

Listening to God’s Voice Today

Like many others have done, I spent the last five days reeling from the devastating news that has rocked not only our nation, but people across the world. I’ve watched the news more faithfully than I ever have, waiting for the latest update on the investigation or how Charlie Kirk’s family is faring.

All my favorite Christian podcasts are covering the story. All my favorite conservative podcasts are covering the story. Nearly every post on my social media has been about Charlie and his legacy. Every news outlet is covering the story. It’s been everywhere, and over the past few days, I’ve listened to dozens of voices talking about what happened. And yesterday, I felt the quiet conviction of the Holy Spirit that I hadn’t made room for the voice that matters—God’s voice.

It’s easy to listen to the voices saying that we won’t let Charlie’s death be in vain, that we’ve found the killer and he’ll be brought to justice, that the senseless violence has to stop. But I would encourage all of us, especially if we’ve been emotionally impacted by this tragedy, to make sure we make room for listening to God’s voice.

Only His voice brings the peace and healing and comfort that we need, so let’s not forget to shut off all the others and make time to sit in His presence.