Hope In The Midst Of Sorrow

HOPE IN THE MIDST OF SORROW

a prayer to open

Holy Spirit, come. Center my heart.

Fill my mind. Guide my steps.

About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword. When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.) Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover. But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.

The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered.

So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. . . . They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.

Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!”

When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!”

“You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.”

Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers what happened,” he said. And then he went to another place. . . .

The word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.

When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission to Jerusalem, they returned, taking John Mark with them.

Here we see another example of God’s supernatural intervention to ensure the continual growth of the church. In fact, Luke made a point of ending this dramatic story with these words: “The word of God continued to spread” (verse 24). So from that perspective, we see hope. But in the midst of this hope, there was great sorrow. Although God saved Peter, John’s brother (James) was beheaded. How must this have felt to James’s family and close friends? Peter was saved; James was not. When we feel unfairly treated—someone else’s prayer for healing was answered, while ours was not—envy or anger may be the emotion that arises in us first. We refuse to express joy for the way another has been blessed. But how our hearts might be changed if, even as we suffer or struggle, we could truly rejoice with those who rejoice.

• Read this passage again. What word or phrase stands out to you? Sit quietly, reminding yourself that you are in God’s loving presence, and ask him to show you how that word or phrase connects to your life.
• Reflect on an experience you’ve had in which you felt as though God treated you unfairly (perhaps healing came to someone else but not to you, or an opportunity opened for someone else but not for you). What do you feel as you think about that experience? What do you hear God saying to you as you reflect on that time?
• Imagine what it would be like to rejoice with the person who was blessed in the way you wanted to be but weren’t. What would that be like for you? What would be hard?

Father, thank you for the ways you intervene supernaturally to preserve your church. I pray that I would be someone who rejoices with those who rejoice and mourns with those who mourn. Remove any resentment and anger I feel toward you or others when someone is blessed in certain ways and I am not. I pray that you would heal my hurts and disappointments. Continue to help me surrender every desire and longing to your will and to trust you with every aspect of my life—in the good times and in the difficult times. Amen.