Acts 12:1-25 | Sometimes It Looks Like God Is Failingنموونە

Sometimes it seems like God is failing.

How could this happen? The power of Christ and the presence of his kingdom were exploding. Think about what we’ve seen.

• Jesus says he’d pour out his Spirit. And then he does! In the most dramatic of ways. Wind and fire and the power of God are poured on the disciples. The fire of God literally comes to rest on them. They speak in tongues. Peter goes from denying Christ to proclaiming Christ. Thousands respond (Acts 2).
• By the power of Jesus, a paralyzed man is healed (Acts 3).
• By the power of Jesus, the disciples boldly proclaim him and confront the authorities. They can’t be intimidated! They won’t back down. The very ground shakes (Acts 4).
• Sin is confronted, exposed, and judged. The wrath of God, which often feels so theoretical, is witnessed in real-time (Acts 5).
• By the end of Acts 5, so many miracles are happening that people even bring their sick loved ones into the street in the hopes that Peter’s shadow will pass over them and heal them!
• Yes, there was suffering too. But even this seems redemptive. Stephen dies seeing God with forgiveness in his heart, almost as though he’s surrendering his own life rather than having it taken from him (Acts 6-8).
• The church is persecuted, but it leads to the kingdom expanding and Samaritans responding. Even the persecutor, Saul, is laid flat by Christ and comes to proclaim him (Acts 8-9).
• Gentiles are having visions (Acts 10). Gentile cities are responding (Acts 11).
• Not to mention that the very dead are being raised (Acts 10). And in the face of suffering, those first Christians deploy to meet it head-on (Acts 11).

It’s almost as if nothing could stop the kingdom of God. All that God promised seems to be coming true.

And then James is killed. And Peter is imprisoned. What’s happening? It’s not supposed to be this way.

How do you respond…

• When bad things happen?
• When prayers seem unanswered?
• When all your efforts to do what’s right and honor Christ seem futile?
• When evil seems to flourish?
• When God’s promises don’t seem to be coming true?

It can seem like God is failing. And questions deep inside may come whirling.

• Is God able?
• Is God strong enough?
• Does God even care?
• Am I doing something wrong?
• Am I missing something?
• Is God even real?
• Is everything I dared to believe all made up?

You’re not the first to face them. The disciples in Acts faced them too. In those moments you’ll have a choice. Will you hold onto God, or walk away?

This plan is about those times when it seems like God is failing. It’s about what to do and how to respond in the face of it. This plan is about Acts 12, and the window it gives into those times when it seems like evil is winning, and into a different way of thinking that the early disciples shared.

Today, just start by reading the beginning of the story in Acts 12 and put yourself in their shoes. Chances are, you’ve faced sets of circumstances that are similar.