This passage recalls one of the fundamental challenges of Christianity: God’s relationship to human suffering. The brutal murder of Stephen at the feet of Saul reminds us that following Christ is not a promise of an easy life. It is certainly not a way to escape reality. Rather, it is an invitation to live with our hearts and minds turned toward God.

In Stephen, as in Jesus, we see an example of someone who is able to turn toward trust, love, and surrender in his darkest moments. Stephen is able to find peace and even forgiveness as he faces hatred, violence, and murder. What happens in him to make this possible? Here lies our hope in this difficult passage. Stephen’s example points us not toward some heavenly realm but toward a loving Sustainer who can help transform our darkest hours into hope, mercy, love, compassion, and even peace.

This passage highlights the reality that God’s power, the way God deals and intervenes in human suffering, is so radically different from our own that we often miss it. Consciously or unconsciously, we expect that God will crush down the guilty and right wrongs through sheer force. Instead, God transforms human suffering from the inside out.

Today's reading not only acknowledges the reality of being a human being in a broken world, but also calls us to participate in God’s plan for salvation. As we entrust our suffering to God, we will be transformed. And as instruments of God’s grace, we will participate in the transformation of the world around us.