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TheDiscipleMD

I don’t know how often you have asked yourself why it is that God doesn’t intervene to stop bad things from happening to good people.  That question, for me, may have been answered by a conversation I had with my wife many years ago regarding, of all things, her old habit of driving while simultaneously putting on her make-up.

Like many of us, my wife is often in a hurry in the morning. A number of years ago, she developed a habit of applying her make-up on while driving on the way to work.   And although she knew it was a bit dangerous, she did it anyway.  One morning while she was both ‘driving’ and ‘applying,’ she got a strong impression that if she continued to do so, an accident would ensue resulting in her death. The impression was so strong, that she stopped doing it, and to this day has never once lapsed into such a dangerous practice.

I am reminded of a story found in Acts wherein Paul admonished a sea-captain to not sail.  Said he:

“Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the…ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.” (Acts 27:10-11)

After the ship sent sail and the voyage turned dangerous, putting the captain and crew in peril, Paul “stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.” (vs 21)

I wonder if sometimes we are not like these seamen, who, having ignored inspired counsel, find ourselves in perilous and unchartered waters!  When tragedy strikes, perhaps the Lord has tried to intervene, but we have ignored the prompting of the spirit as we plow onward towards the tragedy that awaits us.

My wife feels that if she had continued to ignore inspired promptings the end result would have been a tragic accident.  If such an accident had occurred and she had been taken from this world, I might then have been left behind with feelings that the Lord had not watched over her when the opposite was the case.

The Lord communicates directly to us by the spirit and sometimes through inspired friends, family, or church leaders. Certainly, tragedies occur in this life through no fault of our own.  However, next time we ponder why bad things happen to good people, may we also remember that we might never know if the Lord tried to intervene or not.  All of us need to do our part in avoiding the tragedies found in life by listening to the promptings of spirit of the Lord. To ignore so, could be deadly!