David Butler’s book, Almighty, is all about God and, as the book’s cover says, “How the most powerful Being in the Universe is also your loving Heavenly Father.”
But if that’s true, what about the times when things don’t go our way? Why doesn’t God always intervene to keep bad things from happening if He really loves us? On this week’s episode of All In, Butler explains how we can find answers to this question through the stories of the imprisonments of James and Peter in the book of Acts.
Listen to the entire interview with David Butler and All In host Morgan Jones.
Note: This excerpt has been edited for length and clarity.
MJ: One part [of your book] that I really, really adored was a part that kind of answers the question that I think a lot of people have, which is why doesn’t God intervene and keep bad things from happening? And you give this example of James and Peter, and I wondered if you might be able to share that in your own words and also kind of expound upon why that answers that question.
DB: Yeah. So there is the story in the book of Acts where Peter and James are both imprisoned at different times. And Luke, who writes the book of Acts, doesn’t write up the drama very well because at the beginning of that chapter, James goes into prison. And then two verses later, he is killed—he’s beheaded. And you read that, and if you paint the actual picture of what’s going on, imagine waking up tomorrow and it’s like, “Elder Bednar is in jail and he’s got an execution date.” That would cause a firestorm.
MJ: Right. Like, so alarming.
DB: Oh, absolutely. It’s so quick in the book of Acts that you’re just like, ”Oh, that’s too bad.” But then I was like, “Wait a second! This is one of the leadership of the Church.” Your phone would buzz right off the nightstand if that were to happen, and then to imagine, who would be praying? Everyone. Every class, every meal, all day long as people walked they would be praying for his rescue, his release, and most of all, his wife and his kids and nephews and nieces.
MJ: So it’s like he’s actually a real human.
DB: Yes! And then all of the sudden he just dies? And you’re like, “Wait a second.” And we have this strange idea as people that maybe there are some people that God likes a little bit better, like the prophets and apostles. And if He would answer a prayer, it would definitely be for them, or it would definitely be for that lady who is on the second row at Church, but not for me who sits on the hard chairs.
MJ: Rolls in 15 minutes late.
DB: Exactly. We have this strange idea that of course He’ll answer for you, or for him, or for her. So I actually love that story because it is two apostles that the story is centered on, and so all of the sudden he [James] just dies, and I think that is right when the devil moves in—in moments like that—and says things like, “You must not have enough faith,” “God must not have the power to do it,” ”God must not be concerned with you.” Because I had a good friend whose husband was in a coma, and we were praying and he was receiving blessings, and she said to me, “I know what the right answer is, and it’s that a dad lives, right?” What’s the right answer? That’s easy, if a dad has a 3-year-old kid, then the easy, right answer for God is to heal him and keep him alive, you know? And same with this. This man was in prison because of his faith, and that’s when God intervenes. That’s when He should. If you look at God’s rulebook, that’s what it should say. That’s when you step in! And then it complicates it, when after James dies, Peter is then imprisoned. So the next day your phone is buzzing off because now President Nelson is in prison and has an execution date, and so everyone starts praying for him like crazy. But I think the devil moves in at the beginning of that story and says, ‘Well, He didn’t rescue James, so why do you think He’s going to rescue him [Peter]? So it’s not even worth praying about it. It’s not even worth concerning because you’ve already learned that God doesn’t care. But then he does get rescued in this crazy miraculous way. He’s in, like, the deepest part of the jail with 16 guards and chained to two in the night and an angel comes and takes off the chains and walks him past all the people out into the street.
Then I think the devil comes in a third time and would say, especially to James’s wife and James’s kids, “How come He rescued Peter and how come He didn’t rescue James? Is Peter more valued? Is Peter more righteous?” which is the wrong question to ask, because miracles aren’t based off our righteousness, they’re based off of God’s will and God’s love. But those are the questions I think people will ask. So to have those two stories right next to each other is so valuable because it just says, “Sometimes, people get the sword and sometimes people are rescued with an angel.” And in that story they are on equal playing ground. They’re both just as valued.
Later in the podcast, Butler comes back to this point and adds, “He allowed James to get the sword, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t break his heart when it happened, and that doesn’t mean that he [didn’t] sit on the edge of the bed with his wife and kids as they cried themselves to sleep. Just because He allowed it doesn’t mean that He is absent from that situation.”
Listen to the episode here.