"Behind me and before, You hem me in and rest Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; too lofty for me to attain." (Psalms 139:5-6)
A friend had a car accident. He took out several trees and workers had to use a chain saw to get the truck out. The air bag deployed and, seeing smoke, he kicked the door open and got out of the truck. He had hit his eye on the steering wheel and I suspect his glasses were the cause of his badly cut left eye. When I arrived at the hospital, his face was so swollen, he could not open his left eye. He had gone to sleep and, on a curve, had simply gone straight and ended up in the trees.
Could we say, "Where were You, Lord?" "Why didn't You protect him?" "Why did You not 'hem him in'?"
We could say that. Consider though, what are the chances of going across a major highway, asleep, and not hitting any oncoming cars? Pretty slim, I think. Was he "hemmed" in? I think so.
This is one more addition to my mental list of all the times things could have gone drastically wrong and yet because we are hemmed in, tragedy has not happened. Still, I am not so simple-minded that I think all those who have suffered tragedy were somehow not hemmed in. I know there are scads of people who are faithful followers and diligent seekers of God's protection and grace, people who are quick to let others know from where their protection comes; yet some of those very people suffer horrible tragedies themselves or within their families.
I cannot make complete sense of it but I do know that they, too, were hemmed in. Perhaps sometimes that personification of evil, the devil, has bargained with God in a similar way as he did concerning Job. Satan believed, and told God, that Job was God-fearing and blameless because God had surrounded him and his family with His protection. Satan tells God, "..now put forth Your hand and touch anything that he has, and surely he will blaspheme You to Your face." So God allows all kinds of misfortune and tragedy to afflict Job.
Whether or not some of our afflictions or absolute tragedies are specifically allowed by God to prove to satan we are worth our words, is a moot point. What does matter is what we do with the troubles and tragedies that befall us. Will we buckle under and say that surely God is not God or He would not have allowed such tragedy to come upon us? Or will we continue to believe that God, in His omnipotent wisdom, has a different way for us to show our belief to others?
In the strength of our belief, and our continuance in our faith- especially in the midst of seemingly senseless tragedies, we pull others toward God with the kinematic effect of the grace that is ours during a tragedy. The simple truth is that we must not let the devilish laugh of satan take over our thinking. If, in the midst of sorrow, we can say, "Blessed be God," then the tragedy that has befallen us will not be seen as evil winning but as a battle being won. A battle to show God's might and strength and love. A battle full of grace.
