God Is In Control!

Have you ever had one of those weeks that was so full, you actually prayed for a boring day?  A week where so many intense things happened, you wondered whether you could handle any more bad news? How about a week so full of God’s protection, working, and blessings that you woke up saying, “I’m not sure I can handle another round, but Lord, what do you have up your heavenly sleeve this time?”

Last week was one of those weeks.

• Saturday, my mother fell and passed out – or did she pass out and fall?  We still don’t know.
• Sunday, while my sister, brother-in-law and daughter were driving down I-10, they had to pass by an auto transport semi engulfed in flames.  The fire was so intense, they could feel the heat through the closed windows and heard strange popping sounds. Needless to say, they were quite shook afterwards.

  

• Monday, my daughter’s flight was canceled because of maintenance problems. She couldn’t get another flight out of Tucson until the next day.
• That night, my husband, who had received a steroid shot in his knee that morning, discovered his blood sugar had spiked to nearly 400.
• The next day, my aunt and uncle told me that a truck parked next to two large propane tanks in their hometown of Elkhart, Kansas caught on fire, requiring the entire hospital, nursing home, care unit and surrounding neighborhood to evacuate.  My cousin, their daughter, who is the Director of Nursing of the Care Unit, was intricately entwined in the evacuation.

On the surface, that all sounds pretty bad.  Heart pounding at the very least.  Yet, each time, our family saw the hand of God protecting us from what could have been.

• My mom suffered no serious injury from her fall.  She wasn’t driving when she passed out.
• My sister’s car as well as other cars could have caught on fire.  They were kept safe.
• The plane’s maintenance problems were discovered before it took off.  She didn’t HAVE to be back home right away.  She didn’t get stuck in her connecting city.
• My husband never had to go to E.R. for his blood sugar.  It slowly came down and in spite of the fact that I was gone the rest of the week and couldn’t cook proper meals for him, the blood sugar remained at an elevated but safe level.
• And my cousin in Elkhart?  That is a story in itself which I’ll tell in my next post.

Life events may seem overwhelming to us. We might wonder why God is allowing bad things to happen. What we often don’t see is how God and his angels are pushing back the forces of evil, protecting us from the full brunt of catastrophe. Sometimes we catch glimpses of what could have been. Most of the time we never know just how much God is protecting us from greater harm.

Our week reminded me of the beautiful words found in Psalm 91:

“Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.  He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will find refuge.  His faithfulness will be your shield and your ramport. You will not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.  A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you (v. 3-7).

I have nothing to fear for my God is with me.

How has God protected you?

Don’t forget! Friday is the last day to enter the giveaway for one of my new Children’s Ministry books.  Leave a comment, telling us about the children you want to see reached with the love of Jesus Christ AND your email address.  I’ll announce our winner next week.