Standing But Not Helping

In Acts 7 when Stephen is being stoned to death he see Jesus standing but not helping. Why wouldn’t Jesus intervene and save Stephen? We wonder the same thing sometimes about our own “death” circumstances that God allows in our lives. There is no true fruit in the Christian life without death. Christ uses these situations to uproot and remove things in our heart that are hindering His life from flowing in and through us. Let our prayer not be, “Lord, deliver me from this!” but, “Lord, give me grace and strength as you work out your purposes through this trial.”