Trusting in God's will

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"...Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me..." -Acts 12:11b

St John Chrysostom, in his 26th homily on Acts 12 says, "This is a truth, that each man has an angel... Look, a different sort of trial..." We are subjugated to various trials throughout our lives. Many hardships come about. This should be no surprise to us (1 Peter 4:12) for this is exactly what the Lord said when He spoke on Earth: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).”

We see that the goal is that we may have peace in Christ. Therefore, "...the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives (Hebrews 12:6).” Sometimes the things that we want aren't always what God wants for us. We want things of this world, things that are not necessarily bad and often are good: a nice job, healthy kids, a good family, a good night's sleep, etc. And God, in his goodness provides such things. But he also brings about sorrow and trial for our sakes as St. John of Kranstadt has written:

We draw near to God mostly in affliction, from which no one can save us but God, to Whom we turn with our whole heart, and thus approach Him sincerely; whilst we go far from God in times of ease and abundance of earthly blessing which make the old carnal man proud of himself... (My Life In Christ p. 21)

Let us not be deceived into thinking that such words do not apply to us. Even scripture testifies to this when it says,

Give me neither poverty nor riches—Feed me with the food allotted to me;
Lest I be full and deny You,
And say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or lest I be poor and steal,
And profane the name of my God. Proverbs 30: 8b-9

We can see that wisdom suggests us to give us what we need in order to draw us near to God as the primary objective. Perhaps that is the most crucial thing to remember, that for the Christian, all is ultimately for the sake of drawing near to God because He is eternal life(John 17:3), our life and light (John 1:4), our joy, peace, and righteousness (Romans 14:17).

Beloved, let us ever strive toward Christ above all else, remembering that every trial is ultimately for our good (Romans 8:28), that greatest good, the triune God.