Acts 10:10 is part of the story where Peter received the vision that directed him to bring the gospel to the gentiles. It says that Peter “…fell into a trance.”
The Greek word used means to remove something (anything really) from it’s normal state. It can also be translated “amazement” or “astonishment”. In this context, it appears that “trance” is a good translation and is consistent with the broader use of the word.
I don’t know about you, but as a somewhat typical westerner, this raises all kinds of questions. Was it necessary for Peter’s mind to move from its normal state in order to receive this revelation? Was it common for Peter to go into a trance? Was there anything about his approach to prayer that would open him to this experience? Is the fact that he was hungry significant?
The problem is that the text says he “fell” (went into) a “trance” (the displacement of the mind from its normal state). In a sense, it seems he was passive in this process. The trance “happened” to him. He wasn’t looking for it. And yet I wonder if there were factors other than God’s sovereign hand? I don’t really know the answers to those questions.
Here is what is starting to become clear though. My mental state is connected to the revelation I walk in. I don’t know how to fall into a trance, and perhaps cannot simply exercise my will to do so. And I don’t know that such a mental state would guarantee revelation anyway. But I do have more control over what goes on between my ears than I sometimes let on.
What if I took more time to just be quiet? What if I learned to quiet the busyness and noise that so consistently fills my internal world? What if I learned to allow life circumstances to fade and external things to diminish in order to intentionally become captivated, astonished, and amazed, by the presence and glory of God? What if the internal reality of his eternal reality became my inward focus? What if I learned to spend significant amounts of time beholding him in this way?
I don’t know if that would be a trance or not, but I think I would hear God more.
