Crazy Roro

Roro hesitated for a few seconds as she handed the basket of bread to John Mark. Her aunt, Mary, had asked her to give the bread to her cousin and his friends. Roro always enjoyed assisting her aunt to cook meals, especially for the crew. This time was no exception. The crew was gathered under an oak tree and Aunt Mary was going to stuff their tummies with food before they headed out. It was a full house. Not that that was not normal, but this time, there was extra excitement in the air. It had been like that for the past couple of hours. Roro was equally excited, but she had another thought in her head.

John Mark noticed her hesitance and asked, “What’s up with you, kiddo?”, disheveling her locks with his left hand.

Roro shook her head in an attempt to get John Mark’s hand off her hair.

“So… are we going to talk about what happened earlier?” Roro said, with a shaky voice.

“Earlier?” John Mark replied, looking puzzled. He glanced at his cousin, Barnabas, who responded with a shrug.

“Come Roro, what’s going on?” Peter, the man of the hour, jumped in.

By this time, the crew and Aunt Mary were all ears.

“I…I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m a little angry because some of you called me crazy when I went to get the door earlier .” Roro said with as much courage as she could muster, looking at the floor.

‘Ohhhhh!” John Mark exclaimed, as though to lead others in recollection about the events of the previous day. To be fair they were still ecstatic, that it was difficult to remember what Roro was talking about.

Roro explained “It’s confusing. I mean, we were praying for Uncle Peter to come back home since Monday and God answered the prayer, but you didn’t believe me when I came running to tell you all that he was back. I was just wondering…what was the point of the prayer?” Roro managed to finish up with the question that had been on her mind all morning. She raised her head slightly to capture the reactions and noticed her aunt was more taken aback than the rest of the crew. Everyone knew Roro to be Aunty Mary’s quiet side kick. Peter however, looked lost.

“Crazy? Guys, fill me in. What happened?” Peter asked.

John Mark decided to speak up for the crew, pulling on his beard as he found his words. “Yeah, yeah. You know, before you came back earlier tonight, we had been gathering daily here in Mama’s living room to pray for your release from prison.” Peter nodded, urging John Mark to continue.

“So when you returned, knocking and shouting at the gate, Roro left the living room to get the door and came back screaming that you were back. Honestly, most of us didn’t believe her. A few of us said Roro was crazy and scolded her. Well, she insisted that it was your voice she heard and some of us said it was your angel or ghost. Something like that.” John Mark finished.

Peter then burst out laughing, to everyone’s surprise. “Guys, let me be honest, it was just before I decided to come here that I realized that my escape from prison was for real. I mean, Roro is right and she deserves an apology but listen kiddo, the reason your big uncles and aunties thought you were crazy is not because they did not believe God was going to answer their prayers but because they expected it to happen in a specific way, right?”

John Mark nodded and chimed in “Right. Personally, because Passover is next week, I was praying with the expectation that God would stir Herod’s heart to grant Peter a festive pardon.” Others nodded along with John Mark.

Peter smiled and then continued, “I see. You know, God answered your prayers because personally, I was ready to die if that was going to be it. I believe God acted on your prayers, but He did it in His own way, not in the way you all expected. Anyway, don’t feel too bad. At least you eventually opened the gate”. Everyone cracked up again.

When the laughter subsided, Peter continued “Jokes aside, it’s possible some people would refuse to believe, lock me out and go back to continue praying because they want their prayers to be answered within a frame of expectation they have set for God. May God help us understand and submit to His will even while waiting for answered prayers.”

Mary looked at Roro and then smiled at Peter, saying, “Wow, did my Rhoda girl just make you preach a sermon? It’s so good to have you back, Peter. My my, what a gem we would have lost!”.

Acts 12:5-17