God knows best

S: Acts 12  

1 About that time King Herod laid hands on some from the church to harm them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. 3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too. 

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11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting to happen.”

O: God allowed James to be martyred but saved Peter. God doesn’t explain why he answered the prayer for Peter but not for James. We just have to trust that God knows best. And in fact, later on, God allows Peter to be martyred, as predicted at the end of the Gospel according to John. God has his plans and his timing, and we know he loves us, so we may not understand, but we can trust him.

A: We know God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving, so we need to keep trusting him even when things don’t go as we would like.

P: Father, help us to trust you even when “bad things” happen, knowing that everything is still under your control. In Jesus’ name, amen.