Community Church of Elkhorn

Recently I received some terrible news of the accident that has temporarily left my cousin partially paralyzed and the near tragic accident that our daughters,  in-laws, were in.  These events left me pondering what place God has in our every day lives.  In the above cases, both are strong Christians who love the Lord with all their heart.  One was spared from a major tragedy and the other was not.  So let me ask you, Do we avoid accidents because God saves us from such tragedy or is His part something all together different in regards to the difficulties we face? 

    Isn't it interesting that when we are spared some tragedy we say God really blessed us.  But what about  someone else who also has a strong faith in God but is not spared from a given tragedy, was God asleep or mad, or simply absent at them? I don't think so.  I believe that all tragedy is a result of sin which was released into the world when mankind disobeyed God in the garden of Eden.  From the time Adam and Eve were removed from their garden paradise, mankind has had to deal with sickness, diseases, famines, and other accidents that can change ones life forever in negative ways.  So where does God fit into all of this?
    I believe that God never promised to spar us from all difficulty. In fact we read in James 1, Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials.  And again in James 1:17 which says, Every good things comes from above. If this is true then the good things come from God and the opposite is also true that the bad things come from something else.  The bad things in life come from our sin filled imperfect world, or from our own fleshly wrong desires, or sometimes from the devil himself.  As in the latter case I think of Job and all he lost when Satan was allowed to sift him.  While God might allow such things to happen, He doesn't cause these bad things to happen to us. 
    If you read the entire bible you'll see that difficulty is a way of life on earth now that sin has destroyed God's perfect creation.  No one deserves to be spared any more then anyone else.  However for those of us who trust in God we do have a strong advocate who is there to help guide us through the difficulty's we encounter in life.  Can he spare us some terrible tragedy? I suppose He can and does from time to time however whose to know when such a time occurs?  And when we narrowly avoid some tragedy it is right to thank God for the way He guided us through that event.  So luck! maybe! because even evil people often narrowly avoid accidents and other things and I'm quite certain that God isn't working on their behalf in the same way as He works on behalf of those who have given their life to Him.  But what rich blessing we enjoy when we face these life events(trials) with God by our side.  When we live for Him and seek His guidance and obey His word, we have a strong advocate who helps us deal with life as it presents itself.  We'll probably debate every event as to whether we were lucky or blessed but one thing I do know for certain.  God is with us each day when we surrender our lives to Him.  He is there to help us deal with this sin filled world and the trials we must navigate through in life.  As his children He is concerned and available to guide, strength, and even provide what is needed to deal with life on a day by day, moment by moment basis.    What do you think?  While the response may not work on this site, if you'd like to reply, send an e-mail to pstbob@ccelk.org