The Sean McDowell Show - The Most Uncomfortable Chapter in Acts? Peter, James, and the Problem of Evil

Episode Date: August 11, 2026

God sent an angel to break Peter out of prison. But one chapter earlier, He let James be executed. Same God, same church, same prayers. Why rescue one apostle and not the other? In this message, I work through Acts 12 and the question underneath it: where is God when we suffer? CHECK OUT: Logos Bible 60 Day Free Trial (https://logos.com/mcdowell) *Get a MASTERS IN APOLOGETICS or SCIENCE AND RELIGION at BIOLA (https://bit.ly/3LdNqKf) *USE Discount Code [smdcertdisc] for 25% off the BIOLA APOLOGETICS CERTIFICATE program (https://bit.ly/3AzfPFM) *See our fully online UNDERGRAD DEGREE in Bible, Theology, and Apologetics: (https://bit.ly/448STKK) FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter: https://x.com/Sean_McDowell TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sean_mcdowell?lang=en Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmcdowell/ Website: https://seanmcdowell.org   Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Life can be messy, but you don't have to figure it out alone. Hey, it's the Lusco. Join pastors and bestselling authors Levi and Jenny Lusco. On Hey, it's the Lusco's for honest conversations about faith, marriage, family, grief, ministry, and all the unexpected moments in between. You'll laugh, you'll be encouraged, and you'll be reminded that God is faithful through every season. It will always come back to Jesus in the end. That's right.

Dune into Hey, it's The Lusco's with Levi and Jenny Lusco. Available now wherever you get your podcast. Life Audio Well, good morning. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sean McDowell. Not only does my family call the shoreline our home church, but I get to teach now and then as a part of the pastoral teaching staff. Thank you.

One person appreciates that. With that said, and the enthusiasm in the room, I do want to start with a question, and I'm curious. How many of you recognize the name Nabil Qureshi by Shohans? Okay, good. Maybe a dozen or two of you do. So Nabil was a former Muslim, challenged by a Christian apologist to consider the evidence for Christianity. Even though it cost him a lot with his family, ended up becoming a Christian.

Three master's degrees, got his medical doctorate, was working on his Ph.D. at Ockst's. New York Times best-selling author, Amazing Apologist, tragically died a decade ago in 2017 because of stomach cancer. I remember when this happened, and I asked my dad, who at that time was in his mid to late 70s, moving towards the end of his career ministry, I said, Dad, why do you think God allowed Nebiel to die? Never forget what he said. him, he goes, son, I don't know the answer to that. But why wouldn't he take me? Humanly speaking,

that's a very natural response. How would God protect one of his servants, but not the other? In many ways, this question is a part of the bigger question of the problem of evil and suffering in the world. And it's a personal question for many of us here. Why did God allow me? me to lose my job? Why do God allow my family or friend to die of cancer? Where is God when I hurt? I'm not a Christian because I have a simple answer for that question. I'm a Christian in part because God invites that question. He's big enough for that question. And I think Christian offers the most satisfying, emotional, existential, and intellectual response to the problem of suffering and evil. We've been working through the book of Acts.

When you get to Acts chapter 12, it's interesting, because God spares Peter, and everybody wants to talk about that miracle, but he let James die. Why protect one, but not the other? I think opening up this chapter and wrestling with this question can help us be better witnesses for the gospel today. So let's stand, if you're able, and listen to Acts Chapter 12 together. Acts 12. 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. He didn't realize it was actually happening.

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, 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 and the gate, and a servant girl named

Rhoda came to open it. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was 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. At dawn, there was a great commotion among the soldiers about what had happened to Peter. Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough search for him. When he couldn't be found, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death.

Afterward, Herod left Judea to stay in Cessaria for a while. Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Saidan, so they sent a delegation to make peace with him because their cities were dependent upon Herod's country for food. The delegates won the support of Blastis, Herod's personal assistant, and an appointment with Herod was granted. When the day arrived, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on a throne, and made a speech to them. The people gave him a great ovation shouting, it's the voice of a God, not of a man. Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness because he accepted the people's worship instead of giving glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died. Meanwhile, 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. Acts 12 starts with the death of James. Not James the brother of Jesus, not James the son of Alpheus, who's also member of the 12, but James, a fisherman, brother of John in the inner circle of Jesus.

Now, don't miss how radical this news was for the early church. A decade ago this started, the church is growing. People are coming to faith. Although Stephen died, he wasn't a member of the 12. Put yourself in their shoes and all of a sudden you hear the news, Herod killed James. One of Jesus' closest friends, one of the 12, gone.

You might be tempted to think the wheels are coming off this movement. Joy, grief, disappointment. What would have been going through your mind? Now, I have to admit, when Pastor George assigned me to this passage, I was like, awesome. Now, here's why. It turns out I did my doctoral research on the death of the apostles. I wrote a 300-page academic book on this and published it studying the stories of the journeys of the apostles, trying to figure out what's tradition we can't corroborate and what's actually

historical. What's fascinating about James is the historical evidence that this really happened. Now, let me just frame one piece, humor me for a moment here, if you will. Now, Herod Agrippa is the one who assigns the death of James. There's a lot of Herods in the Bible. It's easy to get him confused. Herod the Great was Herod when Jesus was born. Now, Herod the Great was a massive builder. but he utterly terrorized the Jews. I was in Israel a year or two before COVID,

and our Jewish guide said, up until the time of Hitler, basically Herod the Great was the greatest nemesis of the Jewish people. But then when you come to Herod Agrippa, who reigned for three years roughly from 41 to 44, Josephus, who's a Jewish rider the end of the first century, paints him very different. Josephus tells us he was actually

he observed the Jewish rituals lived in Jerusalem and acted in a way to please the Jews. Now why does that matter? You have this little phrase in Acts 122 that says, and when he saw this the death of James, that it pleased the Jews. So this incidental comment in the book of Acts

matches up with history, and the Herod at that time, and is confirmed by Josephus. That's because this book of acts is historical. It's not mythical. Now, the story goes on, and after the death of James, Herod seizes Peter, throws him in prison, and plans to bring him out, put him on trial, and, like, execute him. Now, what's fascinating about this is two questions emerged to me when I'm reading this. The first question is, how could Peter sleep, knowing, that Herod was planning to put him on trial and probably execute him the next day.

Like, seriously, think of the day in your life where you knew the next day was going to be the worst day of your life. Now, chances are you weren't about to be put on trial and be executed. Other chances are you didn't sleep well. Peter knows he's put it on trial. James is executed, probably to get executed, and he's sleeping so solidly that the angel has to shake him. How did he sleep? Now, one reason might be he was just utterly exhausted and his body shut down. That's a possibility. I think more is going on here.

Here's what I think is going on. My mom said, I mean, I remember this all the time. She said, son, when you have questions or doubts about God or you're struggling, bring out your history book. In other words, think about the times that God answered prayers in the past, and God shut up in ways you didn't anticipate, and that'll give you faith and confidence in the present. Well, what was Peter's history book?

Personally called by Jesus. He heard Jesus minister for three years, saw Jesus walk on water, heal the blind, raised the dead. He saw Jesus brutally crucified. He saw him alive. But then he heard Jesus recorded in John 21,

tell him, he'd live and tell us. old age before he would die. Peter had confidence in God's character and confidence in God's word. That's how I think he could sleep. I actually think that's the peace of the Lord that Scripture promises us when we take God's character and God's word seriously. And Peter models that for us.

But there's another question here. What do you think they were praying for for Peter? prison. Now, if I should raise your hand, probably immediately say, well, of course they're praying for his safety and protection, and that makes sense. But it doesn't actually say that. So I went back, we're in Acts 12, and I found all the other prayers listed before Acts 12, and it's surprised to be what they're praying for and what they didn't pray for. So in Acts Chapter 1, they pray for a candidate to replace Judas. Acts Chapter 4, when they're being persecuted, they pray for boldness. Acts chapter six, they pray for choosing the seven who will serve.

Act chapter seven, Stephen prays to receive his spirit and not hold the killer's sins against them. In Acts 8, Peter and John pray that Samaritan believers to receive the Holy Spirit, guess what's conspicuous by its absence? No prayers for the protection of early believers. Now, don't miss. they're proclaiming that Jesus put to death by the Roman Empire is the risen Lord, putting themselves in harm's way, wouldn't you think their first prayer would be for protection? And there's nothing wrong praying for protection. There's other prayers like this in the Bible.

But my question is, when I read this, is are my prayers about my safety, about my life, about my kingdom, or my prayers about God's kingdom? My prayer is self-focused or other-focused. What would it mean to have on your prayer list? Maybe you do, I hope you do. Pray for your boss. Pray for your neighbor.

Maybe pray that your business explodes and you make more money, not so you have success so you can give more to missions. These are the kind of prayers that the early church prayed. I think they were praying for Peter Stacey, but I also think they're saying, God, you're sovereign. If you don't say Peter, help him witness to his last breath, to the guards that are going to put him to death. I think that's the kind of kingdom focus that they had.

Story goes on in verse 6. I won't read all of it, but Peter's out, he's sleeping. An angel Lord stands next to him. A light shines from heaven. Peter's still sleeping. And the angel doesn't, it's not like they're going to church the morning. You quietly wake your kids up.

This is like he grabs him, shakes him. Peter doesn't know what's going on. So he's woke up with a light with an angel. The cuffs fall off. The door opens up. He walks out. He still not doesn't know what's going on. And then the angel immediately disappears.

Now, humanly speaking, Peter's plight was hopeless. There's four squads of soldiers, two chains, Roman guards, and an execution likely tomorrow. It says, and yet behold, an angel the Lord stood next to him. This was a sudden supernatural intervention. And you know what? The same God who saved Peter is the same God we follow today. As a new school year begins, the Salvation Army's Words of Life podcast is launching a special series designed to encourage

and equip families for the journey ahead. Featuring conversations with a veteran high school math teacher, a licensed student counselor, and experienced parents. This series tackles the real challenges students and families face today. Don't be afraid, I guess, as parents, that it's going to be messy. It's going to look ugly. What a blessing it is to be entrusted with the lives of people that can pour out their dirty and their mess.

And you be there to pick them up. That's awesome. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, teacher, mentor, or student, these practical and hope-filled conversations offer biblical encouragement, alongside real world wisdom from people who have spent years investing in the lives of young people. This series begins on August 12th, so be sure to subscribe to Words of Life so you don't miss any of these episodes. To learn more about the show, visit Words of Lifepodcast.org. A supernatural intervention like this, part of me is like, yeah, that would be cool,

but I don't really want to be thrown in prison before it anyways. I'm guessing probably most of you in here haven't had that kind of supernatural intervention. But Hebrews 13, too, says, Do not neglect to show hospitality strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. The supernatural realm is real. And we see this coming out in the next verses. So verse 12, it says,

when you realize this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose other name was Mark, where they were gathered together. And he goes and knocks on the door, and a girl named Roe to answer, by the way, you notice all the details

that are given here? He doesn't go to a random house knocking a door. We're told the mother's name. We're told the son's name and the servant's name. This is a real historical event. Now, what happens next? It says verse 14, recognizing Peter's voice. And since they were praying for him at that moment,

she immediately knew God answered the prayer, opened up the door, invited Peter in because he'd been in prison, and gives him a warm meal. You're like, wait a minute, that doesn't sound like what happened. in the story. That's what you would think would happen. But what happens, I actually think it's so much humorous. It says, recognizing Peter's voice in her joy, she did not open the gate, but ran and reported to Peter

that Peter was standing at the gate. Um, hello, get Peter first. They said to her, oh good, we've been praying for Peter. Of course, he's at the door. Nope, even they don't get the memo. You know what they respond, they say, you are out of your mind. God answers a prayer and their response says you're out of your mind. You know, friends, God is answering prayers and doing supernatural things today. I believe near-death experiences are real. I think some people have come to the point of death, seeing visions of Jesus, visions of heaven, share it, and Christians say, you're out of your mind. I think Christians, have experienced miracles today and seen them. And we Christians say sometimes you're out of your mind.

I think people have been saved and experienced angelic visitations and we say you're out of your mind. I think people have supernatural dreams, especially Muslims right now of Jesus, and sometimes we say you're out of your mind. But then the response is, but she kept insisting it. So they said, well, it's his angel. They're like, okay, it must be something supernatural, but it's still not Peter. It's just ironic, but Peter kept knocking.

I wish it said how long he kept knocking. Is this three minutes? Is he knocking for a half an hour? I don't know. They finally open it. They're amazed. And then he tells him the incredible story. Now, as I read this, I do have to pause and ask a question.

I'm curious. I want to have you raise your hand. Do you think we have guardian angels? Now, you don't have to raise your hand. according to Amy Grant, we do. In 1984, she dropped a song called Angels, something like, who's Amy Grant? Well, in the 80s and 90s, she was the biggest Christian name in music on the planet. And I do realize, in my last sermon, I quoted Petra, and now I'm quoting Amy Grant.

So I'll just lean into the fact that I turned 50 this year. Well, Amy Grant wrote a song called Angels that dropped in 1984. It's about Peter's supernatural salvation in Acts 12, and how he runs to the house and says, I have an angel, and basically so do you. And nonstop, God is protecting us from physical harm because we have a guardian angel. I'm sorry to report to you,

but at least in this song, Amy Grant has bad theology. The Bible doesn't teach that we have guardian angels. It doesn't teach this. Don't confuse what the Bible reports with what the Bible teaches. All the Bible reports is they say, wait a minute, it's Peter's angel. All the reports is their beliefs. It doesn't tell us those beliefs are true. And by the way, all we know is that they thought at least Peter had an angel.

Friends, the Bible doesn't teach that we have guardian angels always protecting us from harm. By the way, why do we write a song about God protection? Peter, but not write a song about God not protecting James. I think we kind of want to believe in guardian angels, because it makes us feel like we have some control, and sometimes in a world in which we don't have control. Makes me wonder how much our theology is driven by what we want to believe in popular culture than what's actually in the scriptures.

Let's keep going. I also want to know, why does the Bible tell us where Peter went? Did you notice that? All it says is Peter went to another place. It doesn't tell us where. I think the reason is, it doesn't matter where Peter went. What matters is that he left. And why does it matter that he left?

We're in Acts 12. In Acts 1, verse 8, we're given the thesis statement of Acts. That there to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. In Acts 12, where are the apostles still? this is the participatory part of the program. They're still in Jerusalem. The apostles are told to take this to the ends of the earth a decade later. They're still in Jerusalem.

Stephen is martyred. That didn't wake him up. James is martyred. That didn't wake him up. Finally, Peter's thrown in prison he's saved. They're like, okay, finally we'll listen. Now, it makes me wonder. We're asked the question, why does God allow evil in suffering?

if it took suffering and persecution to get the apostles to finally obey, maybe God allows persecution and suffering to get us to obey. One purpose God accomplishes through his suffering is drawing his people, that's you and me, into greater dependence on him and obedience, to advance the gospel. You're not even thinking, well, Sean, this is Peter, though. I mean, come on. He saw the risen Jesus, saw an angel. What about me?

I don't have a simple answer for you, but I can tell you, some of you know this. Three years ago, I went through the worst physical pain I've ever been in my life. I dropped down to 135 pounds. And for about three hours a day, it was just lying on my back a breath at a time that pain was so bad. Literally just like, God, get me through this. And I remember hitting a point. I was like, I don't understand this, God. Can you take the pain away?

All I can pray for is God, I don't know why this is happening, but can you give me the strength to honor you and be faithful through this? I think maybe God allows us to hurt and suffer, because that's what gets our attention. That's what humbles us. And frankly, sometimes that's what breaks us to become more like Christ and to be obedient for the sake of the gospel. In verses 18 and 19, it says there was a little disturbance among the soldiers,

and Herod searched for Peter and couldn't find him, and he puts the soldiers to death. There's a lot of death in this chapter. Starts with the death of James, soldiers have put to death, ends with the death of Herod. And death is the enemy. Because I wonder if death, seeing death around, us is also a kind of common grace to remind us that this life is not forever and to not build our

kingdom here. Just two days ago, I was having dinner with a friend at Chipotle. And his older brother, much older brother, served in World War II. And he was not following the Lord as a mechanic on an aircraft carrier. One day he was sick, needed a sub. One day he was sick. He needed a sub. And that day, the engine exploded and killed his sub. And let's just say, it woke up his brother to follow the Lord. Yeah, death is the enemy. But I wonder if it's a kind of God's common grace to remind us that we're not God and we need to get right with God. You know what's ironic about this story?

I think God actually gave Herod grace. Herod's trying to please the Jews, kills James, throws Peter in prison. Peter's saved by an angel. If Herod wasn't so arrogant, he would have thought, you know what, maybe I'm on the wrong team here. Maybe I'm fighting against something divine, and I should be humble and change, but he didn't. And that brings us to Herod's fate, verse 20.

He says, now Herod, when he's angry with people, Tire and Scyon, you just heard the details. He's put on royal clothes, seat on the throne, and what do the people shout? the voice of a God and not a man, and then he struck dead and eaten by worms. Now, let me ask you the most obvious question that's probably ever been asked from this pulpit. What happens in the Bible when somebody either A says, I oppose God, or B, I am God? How well does it end for this person?

Not well. Like, never ends well. Whenever somebody opposes God, they lose every single time. Pharaoh lost. Nebuchadnezzar lost. Goliath lost. Sanacribs lost. Herod lost. Friends, God is undefeated. Like Biola's football team, you know we've never lost a game.

And we don't have a team, but that is just details. Kidding aside. God has never lost and he never will lose. When it comes to evil and suffering, we might not know why God is doing what he's doing, but we know evil has been defeated. It will be defeated and suffering will end someday in the future. Goliath looked absolutely unbeatable. Sinacri looked unbeatable.

Pharaoh looked unbeatable. Herod looked unbeatable. And all of them were humbled by. the Lord. Evil does not and will not have the last word. I have the questions I read this. I'm like, why does the Bible report that Herod was eaten by worms? Like, seriously, this is the word of God. First off, I haven't seen a children's Bible that depicts this yet. But why are we given this detail? We're also given the death of Judas, where he falls headlong and his, you know, bowels like burst out.

Why? And here's why I think. One reason is, oftentimes the Bible depicts somebody's death to characterize the kind of life that they lived. So in Egypt, do you know, the perfect lifespan was considered 110 years? So who does the Bible report die at 110 years? Joseph, he lived to 110, lived a perfect life. Judas betrays Jesus, bowels guts out.

Herod says, I am God, worship me, falls gets eaten by worms. But there's one exception of this. In fact, probably the worst fate in the Bible was Jesus, but clearly he didn't sin. That is far more gruesome, far more graphic, far more excuse. Why did Jesus experience that fate? And the answer is not his sin, but your sin and my sin. If we look at the death of Judas and we look at the death of Herod and go, oh, man, what a brutal death. Those guys are pretty bad.

We're missing the point of the story. We're supposed to look at the death of Jesus and go, oh my goodness, that's not an depiction of his life. He was sinless. That death characterizes my life. and the sin that's in me. So if you're off-put by Herod being eaten by worms, you're missing the point of the story about how off-putting we should be at our own sin

that caused an even worse death of Jesus. Now, this brings us to verse 24, which is the theme of verse 24, the theme of the chapter 12, and I think the theme of the whole book, it says, but the word of God increased and multiplied. In other words, here it goes, I'm going to kill James. The gospel still multiplies.

I'm throwing Peter in prison. The gospel still multiplies. The reality is God's story is advancing, and we can't control it, but we're invited to be a part of it. So let me ask the question again that I've wrestled with this passage. Why would God protect Peter? But not James. Why? I think one reason why.

I think there's two reasons the best I can do. One reason is, if God always protected his followers, then people who are not as followers would be tempted to become a Christian, not because of repentance of their sins, not because they want to be with God, but because they want something personal out of it, namely to be protected from harm. It might actually discourage people from following the Lord for the right reasons.

But second and most importantly, Acts is about the apostles being witnesses and it's about you and I being witnesses. Today in Southern Orange County, you know what I believe our greatest testimony is? It's when we suffer well. It's when we suffer well. Talk is cheap. Everybody virtue signals today. But when you suffer and you're hurt with hope,

when you suffer and you hurt, dare I say it, with joy, when you suffer and you hurt with faith, that doesn't make sense to our broken and hurting world. That's a witness and a testimony that draws people to the Lord. I think one reason God allows us to suffer. In fact, 1 Peter 317. As a new school year begins,

the Salvation Army's Words of Life podcast is launching a special series designed to encourage and equip families for the journey ahead. Featuring conversations with a veteran high school math teacher, a licensed student counselor, and experienced parents.

This series tackles the real challenges students and families face today. Don't be afraid, I guess, as parents, that it's going to be messy. It's going to look ugly. What a blessing it is to be entrusted with the lives of people that can pour out their dirty and their mess. And you be there to pick them up. That's awesome.

Whether you're a parent, grandparent, teacher, mentor, or student, these practical and hope-filled conversations offer biblical encouragement alongside real-world wisdom from people who have spent years investing in the lives of young people. This series begins on August 12th, so be sure to be sure to be. to subscribe to Words of Life so you don't miss any of these episodes. To learn more about the show, visit Words of Lifepodcast.org. It says it may be God's will that we suffer. It's because when we suffer with hope and joy and faith,

this gets the attention that we really believe it and that there is another world and salvation is real. Friends, when we read the early chapters of Acts, we see two things. We see the lame healed. We see the dead raised from the grave. We see God protecting Peter. And we see Stephen martyred.

And we see James martyred. We see both. We have a miracle-working, supernatural God who allows pain and suffering for reasons we may not know. and yet the gospel still advances. I don't have a perfect answer why God allowed James to be killed and yet protect Peter.

But what's interesting is two decades later, Peter also died as a martyr. And I think there's 10 early sources, by the way, to corroborate that, but I digress. I don't think God was kinder to Peter than he was to James. From our perspective, Peter was fortunate because he escaped prison.

But from heaven's perspective, James entered the presence of Christ earlier, decades earlier. Peter still had years of hardship and persecution and eventually martyred him ahead of them. I think God is kind to Peter and he's kind to James in different ways. And you know what? He is kind to you. And God is kind to me if it will just. see it. If we'll see it.

God had assignment for Peter, he had a different assignment for James. God has an assignment for me, and he has a different assignment for you. The question is, what does that look like to follow that assignment in Southern Orange County, where we live today?

If I may, let me wrap us up by just asking a few questions. If you're suffering, and by the way, if you're not, I hate to break it to you, but it's only a matter of time. The day I turned 50, May 17th, like a month ago, buddy called me, goes, welcome to the decade where your body starts to fall apart. I said, thanks for that happy birthday wish. Nice to hear from you.

Suffering is coming, friends. Taxes and death and suffering is a part of life. My question is, are you allowing that suffering to draw you into deeper dependence and reliance upon God and deeper faithfulness in God. Do you trust that God is sovereign? Do you believe that? Even if we can't see it, even if it doesn't make sense. And really the final question, the most important one,

is do you really believe that God is good? Because what happens with evil and suffering is we get so focused on the negative, we miss the positive. Acts 12 is a chapter of a lot of death, but two chapters later in Acts 14, it's like Paul flips the script. Listen to what Paul writes. Versus 16 through 17, a past generation has he allowed the nations to walk in their own ways, yet he did not leave us without a witness. For he did good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons. Satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.

God's goodness is all around. us if we'll see it. You got up this morning and could come to church is a sign of God's goodness. That coffee I had this morning and I enjoyed it, dark roast, is a sign of God's goodness. We live in a country. We just celebrated. Not a perfect country, but 250 years of freedom. That's God's goodness.

Friends, I don't know when it's all said done why God protected Peter, but not James. But I know that God is good. And I know that when we hurt, God wants us to be drawn into reliance upon him and to live our lives knowing that God is good and that we get to be a part of his story. That's the question and challenge for all of us. What does it look like to witness and testify to the goodness of God in a broken and hurting world, particularly where we live? That's the question God put on my heart reading this, and I hope he places it on yours as well.

Hey friends, if you enjoyed this show, please hit that follow button on your podcast app. Most of you tuning in haven't done this yet, and it makes a huge difference in helping us reach and equip more people and build community. and please consider leaving a podcast review. Every review helps. Thanks for listening to the Sean McDowell Show, brought to you by Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, where we have on campus and online programs in apologetic, spiritual information, marriage and family, Bible, and so much more.

We would love to train you to more effectively live, teach, and defend the Christian faith today. And we will see you when the next episode drops. Hi, I'm Beckett Cook, host of the Beckett Cook Show. I lived as a gay man in Hollywood for many, many years until I had a radical encounter with Jesus 13 years ago. Since then, I've gotten my master's degree in seminary and published a book called A Change of Affection. On my podcast, The Becca Cook Show, I sit down with fascinating Christian scholars and thinkers to address the lies of the culture and bring the biblical truth to bear on those lies. To start listening now, go to Life Audio.com or search for the Becca Cook Show on your favorite podcasting platform.