God has the whole world in His hands

In this chapter, Sharon Jaynes tells the story of how God took care of her and her husband 30 years ago.  They were traveling home from announcing to their families about their engagement.  They were going down a road when they hit a slippery patch and were heading into oncoming traffic.  Steve, her husband, knowing that there was nothing he could do to prevent hitting the car head on, threw his hands up in the air and said "God help me."  Next thing they knew, their car was in the ditch, facing backwards.  They did not have their seatbelts on and, if their car was facing forward, they would have been thrown from the car.

As Sharon shares a story of how God took care of her, I think about a time when God took care of me.  My family and I were heading home from visiting my husband's family in New Orleans.  Because my oldest was preschool age at the time, we set out for home late at night so that she could sleep while we drove.  We were almost home-by Grain Valley-when our car had a flat.  Because it was dark and raining, we waited to see what we would do.  We are not skilled at changing tires and the dark and rain made it worse.  I called out to God to send someone to help us.  It was within minutes when a car pulled up behind us.  A guy got out of the car with two raincoat-one for him and one for my husband.  He asked if we needed any help.  When I think back on this, I think what are the odds?  First, that the guy could see us in the dark and rain far enough in advance to be able to stop from highway speed and pullup behind us.  Most people are probably oblivious to cars on the side of the road while driving until they are almost upon them.  Then, what are the odds that this guy has not one raincoat, but two?  I know it was God taking care of us.

While I am aware of how God has taken care of me, I am aware of people who may question God's goodness because they feel like He hasn't taken care of them.  People killed in car accidents, people who are not healed of their diseases and sicknesses, and people who have died prematurely.  Where was God for these people?  Does it mean He doesn't love them or care?  Yes He does love and care about all of us.  He calls all of us to trust Him regardless of our circumstances.  If we trust Him (bail on Him as was talked about yesterday), He will give us the strength and courage to handle anything.  He will walk beside us in the good and bad.  He will care for us whether our circumstances turn out good or not so good.  Our circumstances do not have the last word.  Sometimes He asks us to walk through not so good circumstances so that He can show how strong He is and how much He does care.  We live in a fallen world, so we will face unpleasant circumstances.  But, if we look closely enough, we can see God taking care of us when our world seems to be falling apart.

My challenge to you is to not only look for how God is taking care of you by blessing you with positive situations (answered prayers, good health), but how He takes care of you when everything is crashing in around you.  While I don't like the unpleasant circumstances, I feel God's love so much more at those times.