It is very easy to look at things from a human lens. I guess that is because we are human. Several weeks ago while we were in church, we received a distress call from our daughter who was on her way home and had a major accident on the highway near Chicago. I won’t repeat the story – you can find it on Debbie’s blog here. The bottom line is that our daughter by all rights based on what happened should have been killed or severely injured, but she wasn’t. She walked away from an accident that any other time of the day or week would have been far worse. She did not hit any other car or hurt any other person. The car spun 360 degrees on the highway and struck the median as shown below.
It was an act of grace. Bethany was not hurt. We might even say she was spared. But we have godly friends who lost a son due to a freak accident. Are we any more spiritual than they are? Hardly so. For some reason, God did not take Bethany home that night. It was grace. Our friends had to take years of heartache and dig deep down into their relationship with Christ to even persevere. Their son’s faith encouraged many to come to faith likewise and the parents have also been used of God to tell their story.
I am reminded of two simple truths. First, we live in a fallen world and as a result, Christians endure pain and suffering as much as non Christians. In fact, Christians endure more pain because they name the name of Christ. Secondly, God gives grace. He gives grace to each of us to enter into a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. That relationship overshadows the trouble of this life. When God takes a Christian out of this life, there is reason to celebrate because they are home. He also provides the grace in this life to persevere in the loss of loved ones. Paul says whether we live or die, we are the Lords.
We can love a God who is so infinite and loving despite the circumstances of this life. My God is not a genie in a bottle. He is a loving Father that I can trust fully no matter what.
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