January 9, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Friday, January 9.
Do you ever question God? Do you ever question His fairness, His justice, His will? Have you ever asked Him, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Today we focus on a story that raises those very questions.
In Acts 12:3 we encounter one of the great rescue stories of the Bible. Peter has been arrested by King Herod and thrown into prison, placed in chains, and surrounded by guards. And then, in the middle of the night, God sent an Angel to break Peter’s chains, an Angel who walked him out of the prison, unnoticed and unscathed.
Peter ran to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where a group of believers had gathered to pray for him. When Peter knocked at the gate, a teenaged girl, Rhoda, was so surprised to see him, that she ran back to tell the group, without opening the gate! It is a joyful story, celebrating God’s protection of His own.
But we sometimes forget what occurred shortly before Peter’s rescue. Here are the words of Acts 12:2 - “King Herod had James, the brother of John, arrested and put to death by the sword.” This is the same James who was part of Jesus’ inner circle, with his brother and Peter. This is a man that Jesus trusted, a man that Jesus loved. So why was Peter rescued, while James was not? Why did John live to an old age, while his brother became the first disciple to be martyred?
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why God? There will undoubtedly be moments in 2026 when we encounter moments that bring these questions to mind. If you’ve read to the end of this devotion anticipating an answer to these questions, then I apologize. I do not have that answer. I have only these words from I Corinthians 13 - “Now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face. Now we know in part, but then we shall know, even as we are known.”
Meet you back here on Monday,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
