Skip to main content

An Accident

Yesterday my father-in-law was in a traffic accident.  His car was t-boned by another vehicle at an intersection.  He is presently under observation in hospital with a concussion.

As I sat awaiting news about his condition, my mind flitted in so many different directions.  I am sure that the thoughts that passed though my mind were typical of those that others experience in these types of circumstances.  There were concerned thoughts for his health and for my mother-in-law confined to the nursing home.  There were loving thoughts for my dear wife as she hurts for her father. There were speculative thoughts about what this accident might mean for his future.  There were even selfish thoughts about why this had to happen the week before Christmas.

The most productive thought of the day was the one that reminded me that there are really no such things as accidents.  Oh, I know that is the word we humans use for things that happen in our lives that are unplanned and unforeseen. I wish I could think up a better word for such circumstances that actually reflects my true beliefs and theology.  You see there are no unplanned or unforeseen happenings for our God.  He plans each and every one and they are under His unfailing control.  Not only that, but He has promised that every single event in out life has been planned and ordained by Him for our best as His child - even a traffic accident on a snowy Monday morning.


28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:28-31)
 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Ready for Friday

Learn to know Christ and him crucified. Learn to sing to him, and say, "Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and given me what is yours. You have become what you were not so that I might become what I was not." --Martin Luther
Post a Comment
Read more

A Grace Too Small

Last evening our sermon passage was found in Genesis 38.  It is an ugly passage.  It tells the story of Judah, his sons Er, Onan, and Shelah, and Er's wife Tamar.  Judah marries a Canaanite woman and has three sons.  His sons are so evil that God kills both Er and Onan for their wickedness.  Because Judah fears the loss of his remaining son, he fails to fulfill his obligation to Tamar of marrying her to his last son so that an heir might be raised up to Er.  Seeing the failure of her father-in-law, Tamar takes matters into her own hand by dressing as a prostitute and sleeping with Judah.  Judah, unaware of with whom he has had sex, subsequently hears that Tamar is pregnant by immorality. He demands that she be brought out and burned for her crime (can anyone say "hypocrite?").  Tamar then produces the evidence against her father-in-law and he relents.  The story ends with the birth of twin boys. I jokingly called the sermon the "Jerry ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Families' Fridays

From Focus on the Family 10 helpful tips for single parents Imagine this: you’re the sole parent for your children. You get them up, get them fed and send them to school. You do the housework, maybe you go to work yourself, you get home and you’re still the only adult there. There’s no one to relieve you. No one to pass the baton to while you take a shower or take a few minutes for yourself. You make dinner and gather the family around the table to eat. You play with them, read to them, give them baths, get them to bed and there’s no one there to sit with and process your day. There’s no one there to laugh with you or pray with you. Instead you keep working. You clean up the house again. You pack lunches for the next day. And you eventually crash into bed, knowing you’ll be doing the same thing tomorrow. For many, this is not an imagined scenario. When you parent alone – whether due to divorce, the loss of your spouse or having a spouse who works away from home for long periods of...
Post a Comment
Read more