The Unexpected

Friday morning, May 9, 2008
Yesterday, I spent some time with a man, who was in the throes of having just found his wife lying dead on the floor in their home; to put it mildly, he was upset, unsettled, and undone. Not in his wildest dreams did he expect this event to happen anytime in the near future, much less yesterday. His words still ring in my mind: “I just wanted to grow old with my baby.”
For reasons that fit somehow in God’s plan (but most often, not in ours), our lives are filled with unexpected events that forever change our lives, events that, for the most part, we would never choose to experience and would, therefore, attempt to avoid at all cost. As you know, most of the time these kinds of events leave us with feelings that control our lives for far too long. For example, sometimes we become angry with God and, sadly, we cling to our anger for years and years, only to learn somewhere down the road that we have become slaves to an image of God that is not God at all.
Rest assured that we have a very clever enemy, one who goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; albeit, most often very covertly (even when he is roaring like a lion!). He will stop at nothing to distract us from embracing truth, even to the point of making lies look so much like the truth that we believe them to be truth. It is entirely possible that the man I mentioned above is already struggling with one of the enemy’s lies—a good God would never have allowed this to happen—one with which we would struggle, as well, especially if we were in his shoes.
On the other hand, rest assured (even more assured!) that because God is for you no one can be against you, at least not successfully! Oh, it might appear that someone, even God, is against you, but things are not always as they appear! The fact is this: God is for you (see Romans 8:31) and, I might add He loves you, as well. In fact, nothing can separate you from His love—nothing! Neither death, nor live, nor angels, nor powers, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, not depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate YOU from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus (if you don’t believe it, read Romans 8:37-39).
Interestingly, however, one can know this and know it well, even be absolutely convinced that it is true; however, neither the knowledge or the faith numb the pain we feel when one of these unexpected events come our way. Yes, in time both have a way of bringing us to rest in His Sovereignty, but most of us struggle during the interim and what we struggle with are usually the really difficult questions.
Thankfully, truth always stands the test of time and God is always on our side—ALWAYS! He simply will not allow us to remain forever enslaved to an image of Him that is not Him.

-Mac