Something upsetting happened today. Driving through a narrow lane in the town and a young boy who was playing ran in front of the car. We hit him before we could stop, partly because he ran into the car. It knocked him over, and gave Liz and I a bad scare. We're both prone to nervous stress, so we piled out of the car in a panic. The boy had got up, though he was in tears. We found his parents, and told them. Several hours later, and the news is that he's quite alright. A bit bruised and shaken, and is seems nothing more. We had prayed, really hard, that he would be okay. And it shames me to admit it, but I was worried about the legal consequences to me, not just for the welfare of the little boy.
It was one of those moments.
There is a passage of Scripture that stands out, for times of fear or uncertainty. Roman 8-28: "For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
I badly need to go back to those Scriptures. Even knowing God, and being saved, there are times of stress. After all, Christians still bleed when we are cut. Being thrown into a fiery furnace and surviving can happen, as it did to Shadrach, Meshak and Abednego, but that does not mean it simply happens when we want to keep things easy for ourself. Even this year our son lost a friend in a car accident. He was 20 years old, Christian, born to Christian parents and grandparents; and it did not mean nothing terrible could not happen. The family say they have been upheld and had peace about it, thank the Lord; but there are those times when we feel the need for God really acutely.
1 comment:
Sheesh, that's terrible. I feel sick just reading it.
Regarding your observations on Romans 8:28, I've often noticed that Christians take those words as reassurance of their safety...it's not so. There is no indication that the "good" will be to you...the "good" could be to someone you've never met. Or to the Body as a whole.
I have a friend who's going through cancer at the moment. She is almost finished her chemo treatments and then there's the long wait to find out if there will be a recurrence. A woman at her church had said to her, "You'll be fine: God just wants us to be happy. Remember, all things work together for good."
In the end, we are all the servants of the Most High, submitting to His purposes. I take comfort in knowing that any adversity I might suffer is not for naught, but in general I much prefer Job 13:15: "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him."
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