Devotional Thought : Acts 12:2,7

He (King Herod) had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword (Acts 12:2). 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, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists” (Acts 12:7).

It seems that when King Herod seized Peter he had every intention of putting him to death like James “but the church was earnestly praying to God for him” (v.5). The church had probably prayed for James too. Sometimes it feels like our prayers are ineffective. Nevertheless though they prayed earnestly they obviously weren’t expecting Peter to be released so miraculously (v.15). So in the space of a few short verses, James dies but Peter is miraculously released from jail. Both were part of the original 12 apostles. Both were active in sharing the gospel. Jesus had invested 3 years of his life in both of them but James is killed. Sometimes it is hard to understand why God would allow such a loss.

When we don’t understand why God allows early deaths, tragedies, disappointments, when we feel unable to trust his words, his directions, his followers then think of the cross. God allowed his only son to be nailed to a cross for us, to take upon Himself the punishment that we deserved. A God who would voluntarily sacrifice so much for us has to be good. We may not understand God’s ways but we can trust his character.

When we are utterly convinced that God is good, that He loves us unconditionally, and that He is powerful enough to fix anything that needs fixing, then and only then, will we have the necessary sense of security in God where we don't need to understand.