"The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up ‘Quick, get up!’ he said… ” Acts 12: 6-7

Many single parents have a problem parenting with patience. That might be because of the stress many single parents find themselves under. When you’re late for work, it’s easy to become impatient when your son forgot where he put his shoes the night before. This is the 3rd time this week it has happened and it’s only Wednesday!

Sometimes just seeing the big picture might help you be more understanding. In the scripture above we can see that Peter was in a pretty desperate situation. When the angel appeared in a bright light that lit up the cell, Peter didn’t get up. It says the angel had to strike him and then what happened? The angel had to say, “Quick get up!” You might say Peter was pretty stressed out.

If you continue to read verses 8 – 11 you will see that instead of the angel getting impatient with Peter, he told him exactly what to do.
• Put on your clothes.
• Put on your sandals.
• Wrap your cloak around you.
• Follow me.

The angel lead Peter past the guards; opened the iron gates and led him out to the street. When the angel knew Peter could handle things, he left Peter. You would think that a grown man, and one that was a disciple, would know to put on his clothes, sandals and his coat. But then again, Peter was in an unusual situation.

Many times we don’t realize when our children are under a lot of stress. It might be when they return from visitation with the other parent. Or it might be that big test coming up or maybe their best friend just rejected them. When children are under a lot of stress their brains release chemicals that make thinking clearly difficult. It’s at times like these that parents need to simplify things for them. Just like the angel did for Peter.

Patience is being able to keep from becoming upset or annoyed when faced with difficulties. Even though we aren’t angels by any means, we can imitate practical solutions like the angel did with Peter.

After the angel had rescued Peter, “the angel left him.” The angel could have very easily stayed with Peter but the angel knew that Peter was ready to make it on his own. Wise single parents will know when it’s time to back off and let the child take over.

“Used with permission of Linda Ranson Jacobs, Healthy Loving Partnerships 4, www.hlp4.com. Copyright (c) 2011. All rights reserved.”