Sovereignty

June 16

I Kings 17-18

Psalm 72:12-16

Proverbs 16:1-3

Acts 12

Sovereignty

“Now about that time Herod the king laid hand on some who belonged to the church in order to harm them.  And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword.  And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also….So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church of God…..And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, ‘Rise up quickly.’ And the angel said to him, ‘Gird yourself and put on your sandals.’  And he did so.  And he said to him, ‘Wrap your garment around yourself and follow me.’”  Acts 12:1-3, 5, 7-8 LSB

This passage presents a question that has been asked by believers and nonbelievers throughout history.  Why is it that God chooses to save some people and not others?  There have been lots of attempts to answer this question.  Some would argue that Peter was saved because “prayer for him was being made fervently by the church of God.”  So does that mean that if there is enough prayer for someone that God will save them?  I can personally tell you of instances when someone was being prayed for diligently by countless faithful believers and God did not choose to heal them or save them.  And I can name other situations where I’m not sure anyone was praying for someone at the time and they were miraculously saved.  Certainly, I am convinced that prayer works.  “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”  James 5:16b KJV  God chooses to respond to the prayers of His people.  In His love and mercy, He acts when we pray.  Thankfully, however, He does not always give us what we ask for.  Like a loving Father, He understands that some of the things we ask for are not the best thing for us or for others involved.  That does not mean that we should not ask for what we want, but we have to do so with the knowledge and acceptance that He knows best and ultimately we want Him to respond in the best way.  This requires faith in His goodness and love.  When we pray we do not have faith in getting what we desire, but we pray having faith in the One we are praying to and the assurance that He will respond to our prayer in the right way even if we don’t get what we want. 

James and Peter were both faithful apostles.  They had walked with Jesus during His ministry and had faithfully carried on His mission after His death, resurrection and ascension.  They both had a part in starting the early church.  There is no obvious reason why God chose to save Peter and allowed James to be put to death.  It is also significant to note that Peter was later crucified upside down for his faith and at that time God did not save him.  The only explanation for why God allowed James to be killed by the sword and He rescued Peter from prison is that James had completed his God-assigned role and Peter had more to do.  In His sovereignty, God has numbered our days.  He has given each of us a mission and role in His kingdom.  As long as we have breath, He still has a purpose for us.  This view of death changes our perspective.  Death is not a punishment, it is a completion of one chapter and the beginning of the next.