As Brother Yun woke up in his maximum security cell with crushed legs, the Holy Spirit made it clear to him that it was time to escape. But what was his plan exactly? To escape, he would have to walk through 3 iron gates on 3 floors and pass by 6 armed guards, all around eight in the morning when the prison guards were most active. “Lord, you have shown me that I must leave this prison,” he prayed. “I will obey you now and will try to escape, but when the guards shoot me, please receive my soul into your heavenly dwelling.”
He got out of his cell by asking to go to the bathroom, and then headed toward the first gate. As he approached it, he found that it was just being opened for a fellow Christian. He walked right through it as the guard went to answer a ringing phone. Yun then made his way to the second gate, which was open with a guard standing right in front of it. “Go now. The God of Peter is your God,” the Holy Spirit said to Yun as he approached it. Surprisingly, the guard didn’t even notice him. It was as though Yun was invisible. He walked through the gate and continued downstairs to the final and most secure gate, but found it open with neither of the guards present. He walked right through it, passed by more guards in the courtyard, and then walked straight out the main gate of the prison, which was left open too.
Immediately a taxi pulled up and asked him where he was headed. He got in and had it take him to a friend’s house. When he arrived, the daughter who was home said, “Yesterday the Holy Spirit told my mother, ‘I will release Yun and the first place he will stop will be your home. He will stay for a short time and will pray with you.’ My parents told us to expect your arrival and we have organized a secret place for you to hide. Nobody knows of the place except us. My mother has already prepared some food and clothes for you.” He was then given a bike and was guided by a friend down some alleys to avoid the roadblocks that had been set up to find him. It was at this moment that Yun realized another miracle: He had been walking since he left his prison cell. Before that moment, the most he could do with his broken legs was crawl. In the midst of his escape, his legs had been healed and he was now riding a bike!
“The God of Peter is your God.” Four squads of soldiers had been put in charge of keeping Peter captive in prison. Escape was impossible—or so it seemed. One night, while Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, an angel hit him on the side and woke him up. He told Peter to quickly get dressed as his chains fell right off his hands. Peter then covered himself with his cloak and miraculously walked past the first and second guard of the prison and out to the front gate, which opened like an automatic door. Nobody does the escape genre more spectacularly than God.
*This devotional was created out of the themes of Acts 12:1-17 found in today’s reading at CommonPrayer.net. You can read today’s story in Brother Yun’s book, Heavenly Man.
Jamin Bradley 