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“I quit!” That’s what Geri Scazzero told her husband. After years of taking care of the kids alone, doing everything he needed her to do for the church, and skipping vacations, she finally decided to quit. She was through overfunctioning for her husband at home so he could overfunction at church. She had hit a wall, and she couldn’t do it anymore. That’s the story she tells in her helpful book The Emotionally Healthy Woman.
Maybe that’s where you are today. You’ve tried and tried and tried, and you’ve hit a wall. There is no going forward in the direction you are now going. Something has to change.
What do we do when we hit a wall? It’s a frustrating experience. You thought you were going forward, and, suddenly, you realize you aren’t making any progress. Maybe you’ve been stuck for years in the same pattern, and it isn’t getting you anywhere. What are you supposed to do?
Our text tells us of a time when the disciples hit a wall. They had been moving forward, doing what Jesus told them to do, and they hit a wall, the opposition of the leaders of the nation. What were they going to do? This text tells us what they did when they hit a wall. We will see this answer in four points: the context, the wall, the prayer, and the answer.
The Context
Let’s look at the really big picture first. The big picture is that God created the world for Himself. He made human beings to enjoy harmonious fellowship with Himself and with others. He made them to be productive and to enjoy the world. However, our parents turned from God, we’ve been doing it ever since. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The result has been war, enmity, destruction, addictions, debilitation, and death across the ages. The good news is that God still loved this fallen, sinful world. God sent His Son. This means that there is one God, but He has revealed Himself as existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son took on Himself a human nature and died and rose again to reconcile God and humanity. This is the greatest wall humans have ever faced, and the Son of God overcame it.
On the authority of the Son of God, you are now offered peace, life, and forgiveness as a free gift. God offers full reconciliation and restoration. This is the gift that is available to everyone.
But how will you know about it? You’ve got to hear about it. How is that going to happen? Jesus thought of that. He sent out people to tell others about Him. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, He said to His disciples. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, will empower them to tell others about Him. That’s how it happens.
Now, let’s go back to our chapter. They had done what Jesus asked. The Holy Spirit had empowered them to tell others about Jesus. Thousands had believed. The church had grown. It was a miracle of God’s grace. All over Jerusalem, people were trusting in Jesus as the one who could give them a new life and a new hope.
One way Jesus got the church off the ground is that He gave them special signs. They did miracles. A man who had begged every day at the gate of the temple was there. He begged because he could not walk. Peter and John told him to walk, and he was healed. How? “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see” (Acts 3:16). The power of Jesus made this man well, and everybody knew it.
The Wall
Then, they hit a wall. The leaders of the people were alarmed at the growth of the church. They were “greatly disturbed” our text says (Acts 4:2). So, they took Peter and John and put them in prison. They had hit a wall.