Somebody’s going to emergency; somebody’s going to jail

Note: This month I’m posting a series of devotional thoughts from Acts. Many of these are reposts, some are new. I’m “working out the kinks” for submission to a compilation of short, pastoral writings in Acts to be published later this year. If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please let me know!

In Acts 12, Herod got a great idea and started to persecute the leaders of a new sect of Jews who were talking a lot about Jesus. He arrested and executed James, the brother of John, close friend of Jesus, and former business partner of Peter. That action won the “king” political points with the Jews, so he promptly seized Peter and threw him in jail with the full intention of killing him, also.

But, the church was “earnestly praying to God for him”, and, miracle of miracles, an angel showed up and walked with Peter straight out of prison, and right by 16 highly trained Roman soldiers. I’m not so sure how earnestly the church was praying, though, because when Peter showed up at the place where they were praying for him, in a brilliant act of great faith they immediately thought it must have been dead Peter’s ghost that showed up. Of course, once they figured out it was really the alive-and-kicking-version of Peter there was a celebration! Peter wasn’t killed; their prayers had been answered; the gospel will progress. Success!

Except for one thing—James. I’m certain that the church was praying for him, too. James was one of Jesus’ favorites; he had great Kingdom impact and a bright ministry future. Peter went to jail and was saved; James went to jail and was killed. That just doesn’t seem fair.

And it’s not. As any dad can be heard saying to his kids… “Life isn‘t fair”. God is always just and loving, but in case you’ve missed it He doesn’t always seem fair (Jesus said as much in John 21:18-22).

You may be much more talented and full of character than someone else, but they have an impact and ministry that seems to far exceed yours. You may be the hardest worker at your job, but someone else gets the promotion. You may pray harder and read the Bible more than everyone else, but you go bankrupt, get sick, fight with your kids…you get the idea.

While we can and should care about outcomes, we cannot get bitter about the outcome—our job is to pray and walk in faith, to make a difference in someone’s life, to serve, to love, to obey. We can’t do these things only because they will make God give us only the results we seek. Sometimes things turn out the way we want. Sometimes they don’t. God always has the last word.

Success; failure; life; death. When we walk in faith, things are ultimately in the hand of the Lord. We simply live as absolute partners of Jesus and deeply loved kids of the Father, and He will determine the outcome. The great thing about that is while the immediate result may not always seem fair, the eternal conclusion is always absolutely just.

Honestly, life is better when I trust Him that way. And If I’m walking in full obedience to Jesus, He is responsible for my life. “Fair” or not, in light of eternity, that is always going to be the best place to be.