Skip to main content

You Have No Idea What Will Happen Next

  

               George Keith’s new BMW had just downshifted into first gear and nothing he did would make it shift up into second.  He called the dealership, and they told him to bring it in at 7 am the next day.   When he arrived, he was told that he was going to have to wait another hour because the mechanics did not start until 8 am.

               George was livid!  Why would they have 7 am appointments if nothing could be done until 8?  He had a meeting at 8 o’clock and now he was stuck in a waiting room.  When the mechanics finally came on duty, they fixed his car in less than five minutes.  This made him even angrier!  If it was something so simple, surely, they could have squeezed him in the day before.  Now, his entire day was behind schedule.  George jumped in the car and took off, hoping to catch the end of his meeting. 

               As he raced downtown, George looked over his right shoulder and saw an airliner flying low over the Hudson River.  Then, the jet turned and flew straight into Tower Two of the World Trade Center.  George stopped and watched as the tower burned and collapsed in a heap of rubble.  The meeting he missed that morning was on the 73rd floor of Tower Two.

               Please hear me clearly:  I am not saying that God made George’s car have transmission trouble so that he would not be in the building that morning.  Nor am I saying that God overlooked all those who were in the building and lost their lives.

               My point, however, is this:  Sometimes, what looks bad right now may be a blessing.  Unwanted circumstances can lead to unexpected joys.  The truth is, we simply do not have enough information.  We do not know the big picture.  Looking back, George Keith is thankful for his faulty transmission.  Without it, he would not be here.

               When trouble comes, try to avoid overreacting.  Focus on what you can learn from the circumstance.  Wait and see how things play out.  Pray and trust that God is at work.

               As the cross demonstrates, our best blessings sometimes come from the worst circumstances.

               “I know… you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials and temptations. This is no accident—it happens to prove your faith” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Consider This: Who Needs Worship?

  Why does God need our worship? The events of Matthew 14 provide at least one answer.   This chapter starts with the beheading of John the Baptist (verses 1-12). This is the first in a series of events that indicate things are about to become much more difficult for the believers. Next, the scene shifts to a crowd gathered on a hillside in Galilee. After listening to Jesus teach all day, the apostles realized that these people had nothing to eat. They brought the problem to Jesus. He took a child’s lunch and fed the entire group of five thousand men plus women and children. Afterwards, they picked up twelve baskets of leftovers (verses 13-21).   Then Jesus told them to get in a boat and cross the Sea of Galilee. As they went, a storm arose, and the apostles were scared. They struggled along until Jesus came to them walking on the water. Peter tried walking on the water too and sank. After Jesus rescued Peter, they got into the boat, and the storm immediately s...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Spiritual Makeover (1 Peter 1:13-16)

 Three responses to the new life God has given us.  https://youtu.be/FmqX5-3jOKc  
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: The Danger of Drifting

   Consider This: The Danger of Drifting Most people will not blow up their life in one big, messy moment. It can happen, and when it does, the damage is obvious and instantaneous. Like a car wreck at an intersection, people make a bad decision, and chaos ensues. Parts and pieces scatter all over. People get hurt. Situations like this are unexpected, loud, shocking and scary. Most of us will not wreck our lives in one big, terrible moment. The real danger is that we will lose what is valuable in small, almost imperceptible steps. It happens all the time. You can leave your marriage without ever leaving your house. You can leave your faith while still attending church. You can leave your life while you are still living it. Many people lose what they love, not by making one big, out-of-character decision, but by coasting, disengaging, neglecting and missing what matters. Almost every Biblical list of Christian characteristics mentions “Self-control”, yet I have not g...
Post a Comment
Read more