pg. 10 — lightandlifemagazine.com
Miracles and the
Already/Not-Yet Kingdom
By Chuck White
wo men who worked for Spring Arbor University suffered severe closed-head injuries at about
the same time. Both served the Lord and both had many people praying for them. One returned
to work as a professor in a few weeks, but the other never was able to remember things well
enough to run the food service. He survived but never was able to handle mental challenges
again.
Why did God heal one but not the other? Each was equally deserving of healing and each had
numerous people believing and interceding for him. Sadly, this case was not the first time God’s
people were puzzled by God’s miraculous action for one person and His bewildering inaction
for another. In Acts 12 King Herod murders James the apostle and then puts Peter in prison
with plans to murder him after Passover. The church prays for Peter as they undoubtedly did for
James, and God answers their prayers by sending an angel to break Peter out of prison. What
made the difference between God’s decision to let James die as a martyr, and to let Peter go free?
It certainly was not the great faith of those who were praying for him! When God answered
their prayers and Peter showed up at the door of their prayer meeting, they thought he must
already have been killed. “Since Peter’s dead, it must be his angel at the door,” they said.
No, there is no reason we can figure out why God chose to let James die and then to save
Peter from the same executioner. The problem gets even tougher when we look at Paul’s life.
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