October 20th, 2026: The God Who Makes a Way | Job 6–8; Acts 12 |…

TODAY'S DEVOTION
The God Who Makes a Way
There's something about the story of Peter in Acts 12 that captures my imagination.
Peter is in prison. He's chained between two soldiers. There are guards at the doors. Herod has every intention of bringing him out for public trial, and the prospects aren't good.
In fact, we're told that James, the brother of John, has already been killed.
So this is no small thing. The church is grieving. The church is afraid. And Peter is sitting in a prison cell, chained up, with seemingly no way out.
But then something extraordinary happens.
An angel appears. A light shines in the darkness. Peter is awakened, and the chains fall from his wrists.
And the angel says, in essence, get up. Get dressed. Put on your sandals. Follow me.
Peter doesn't even seem to know what's happening. He thinks he's having a vision. But he follows. And as he does, the iron gate leading to the city opens before him.
What a remarkable story.
But here's what I want us to notice.
Earlier in the chapter, James is killed. And now Peter is delivered.
Two faithful followers of Jesus. Two very different outcomes.
And I think that's important because sometimes we approach stories like this and imagine that if we just pray hard enough, believe strongly enough, or have enough faith, every prison door will open.
But that's not the story the Scriptures are telling us.
And Job certainly wouldn't recognize that version of the story either.
Job is suffering terribly. He's lost so much. And his friends keep trying to explain it all. They want to make his pain fit into a tidy theological system. If you're good, God blesses you. If you're suffering, there must be something you've done wrong.
But Job knows it's not that simple.
And neither is life.
Friends, I think we can be so quick to search for explanations when what we really need is to encounter the presence of God.
And this is where I want us to look at Jesus.
Because when we look at Jesus, we discover a God who doesn't stand at a distance from human suffering. We see the One who enters into it.
Jesus knows what it's like to be abandoned. He knows what it's like to be misunderstood, rejected, and betrayed. He knows what it's like to face death.
And on the cross, he enters fully into the depths of our human condition.
But that's not the end of the story.
In the resurrection, Jesus reveals that suffering and death do not have the final word. The love of God is stronger. The life of God is greater.
And that is our hope.
Not that every circumstance will turn out the way we want. Not that every prayer will be answered according to our expectations. But that we belong to the One who has overcome death itself.
And because we belong to him, we are never abandoned.
I wonder if there's someone listening today who feels a little like Job. Maybe you've been carrying something for a long time. Maybe people have offered you all kinds of explanations, and none of them have helped.
Or maybe you feel like Peter, sitting in a place where you can't see a way forward.
If that's you, I want you to know that Jesus is with you.
You may not see the open door today. You may not hear the chains falling to the ground. You may still be waiting, still grieving, still wondering what comes next.
But your circumstances are not the measure of God's love for you.
Jesus is.
He is the revelation of the Father's heart. And in him, we see a God who has joined himself to us, who shares our humanity, and who refuses to let suffering and death have the final word.
So perhaps today's invitation is simply this: trust the One who is with you.
And if you know someone who's suffering, maybe resist the temptation to explain it all. Maybe the most Christlike thing you can do is sit beside them, listen, and remind them through your presence that they are not alone.
That's the prayer that I have for my own soul. And that's the prayer that I have for my family, for my wife and my daughters. And that's the prayer that I have for you.
May we learn to recognize the presence of Jesus in the middle of our circumstances. May we become people who offer compassion rather than easy answers. And may we rest in the assurance that the love of God, revealed in Jesus Christ, will have the final word.
And remember, friends, you are loved.