09/25/2026
As I sat in my prayer room this morning reading the book of Acts, the Lord opened my eyes to something in a fresh way.
As I read Acts 12, I found myself pausing over a question I’ve wrestled with before. James, the brother of John and one of the apostles, was killed by Herod. Peter was also arrested and put in prison, yet an angel came and miraculously rescued him.
Why James and not Peter?
I don’t know.
And honestly, there are some questions we may never have answers to this side of heaven.
Why are some people miraculously healed while others continue to pray and believe for healing? Why are some born into places where they have abundant resources, while others grow up without enough food, clean water, or basic necessities? Why do some churches and ministries seem to flourish while others faithfully labor for years without seeing the same kind of growth?
And then I thought about Peter and John.
Jesus told Peter something about the way he would die. Peter then looked at John and asked, essentially, “What about him?” Jesus’ response was clear: What is that to you? You follow Me.
That stopped me.
What is that to you? You follow Me.
How often do we look at someone else’s life and begin asking, “What about them?”
What about their calling?
What about their success?
What about their family?
What about their ministry?
What about their opportunities?
What about their healing?
What about their provision?
What about their journey?
And somewhere along the way, we take our eyes off of Jesus and start looking sideways.
Comparison is a trap.
It can cause us to question what God is doing in our own lives because we are looking at what He is doing—or not doing—in someone else’s.
Your story will not look like someone else’s story. Your calling may not look like theirs. Your timing may be different. Your assignment may be different. Even the way God answers your prayers may look different.
But that doesn’t mean God has forgotten you.
We have to resist the temptation to measure our obedience by someone else’s outcome.
God has not called me to live your life, and He has not called you to live mine. He has called each of us to follow Him.
So instead of asking, “Why them?” or “Why not me?” perhaps the better question is:
“Jesus, what are You asking me to do?”
Then we obey.
We remain faithful.
We trust Him.
We keep our eyes on Jesus.
We celebrate what God is doing in someone else without allowing their journey to distract us from our own.
Because at the end of the day, our assignment is not to understand everything God is doing. Our assignment is to follow Him.
There will be things we don't understand. There will be prayers that are answered differently than we hoped. There will be seasons that don't make sense.
But we can trust the One who sees what we cannot see.
Stop looking sideways. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
What He has asked you to do—do it.
Be faithful with your assignment.
Be obedient to His voice.
Trust His timing.
Trust His plan.
Follow Him.
