ISAIAH 46:9-11

9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and
there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. 10 I make
known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is
still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I
please.’ 11 From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off
land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will
bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.

ISAIAH 45:5-7
5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no
God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,
6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people
may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is
no other. 7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity
and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

ACTS 12:1-11
1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the
church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to
death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the
Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of
Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him
over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to
bring him out for public trial after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison,
but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 6 The night before Herod
was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with
two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.

7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck
Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell
off Peter’s wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and
sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the
angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that
what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a
vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate
leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When
they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then
Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has
sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the
Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

God GRABS our ATTENTION in this pain.

ACTS 9:1-9
1Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s
disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the
synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the
Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As
he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed
around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul,
why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus,
whom you are persecuting,” he replied.
6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but
did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes
he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three
days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

God WARNS us of FUTURE pain.

2 CHRONICLES 7:11-14
11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal
palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the
temple of the LORD and in his own palace, 12 the LORD appeared to him at
night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for
myself as a temple for sacrifices. 13 “When I shut up the heavens so that
there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague
among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their
land.

2 CHRONICLES 7:19-22

19 “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have
given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will
uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this
temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an
object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of
rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done
such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because
they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who brought them
out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshipping and serving them-
that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’ ”

 

 

 

2 CHRONICLES 7:13-14
13 “WHEN I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command
locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 IF MY
PEOPLE, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray
and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, THEN I will hear from
heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.