His Powerful and Sovereign Hands
So (and here’s the big question): Who caused my diving accident?
I could ask, “Was it God’s fault?” and be assured that although He is sovereign, no it was not His fault.
I might wonder…Was my accident a direct attack from the devil?
Well, yes, maybe it was. But I could press that still further and say that it was neither a direct assault from God or the devil, but simply the consequence of living in a fallen world fraught with dangers (like a shifting sandbar in the shallow water of Chesapeake Bay). The point is, I never did rise up out of my wheelchair after the little prayer meeting in that country church. But God was there. He was listening with tender compassion. He was lovingly holding the entire moment in His powerful and sovereign hands.
Do circumstances seem to be careening out of control? Remember that God is with you through it, loving you and caring…and allowing the details to lay out exactly in accordance to His plan. When life seems wild, crazy, and utterly out of control, it is not. When it seems as though God has forgotten you or turned His back on you to tinker with some other universe, He has not. When it seems like you have somehow fallen out of His favor, been edged outside the circle of His protection, or missed the bus on His love, you have not. And that is what it means to walk by faith.
[Excerpted from Joni Eareckson Tada, A Lifetime of Wisdom)
