Didn't See It Coming

Have you ever been surprised by a very bad turn of events? A bill that you never knew about that was in the final stages of collection? a car accident? a revelation of sin in a loved one's life? death? I think we can all relate to being caught off guard by something scary bad that seems to just jump on us from out of nowhere. There were no warning signs, no clues, just a suddenly.

What happens then? Our adrenaline is pumping, our anger rises up, we cry, we rant, we clean up, we prepare. Its a whole gambit of emotions that file through our minds and hearts. Then we start looking for somebody to blame, was it him, her, God? Did I do something that caused this? Could I have prevented it?

Then we go into prevention mode. That is not going to happen to me again... Really what we are doing is living in fear and it paralyzes us. We cannot help ourselves when we remember the pain, but we can keep ourselves from remaining there. God has all things in His hands and its very important for us to keep that in perspective when we look back over the events of our life.

Psalm 91

You who sit down in the High God’s presence,
    spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.
    I trust in you and I’m safe!”
That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
    shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you—
    under them you’re perfectly safe;
    his arms fend off all harm.
Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,
    not flying arrows in the day,
Not disease that prowls through the darkness,
    not disaster that erupts at high noon.
Even though others succumb all around,
    drop like flies right and left,
    no harm will even graze you.
You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,
    watch the wicked turn into corpses.
Yes, because God’s your refuge,
    the High God your very own home,
Evil can’t get close to you,
    harm can’t get through the door.
He ordered his angels
    to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they’ll catch you;
    their job is to keep you from falling.
You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
    and kick young lions and serpents from the path.

^14-16 “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God,
    “I’ll get you out of any trouble.
I’ll give you the best of care
    if you’ll only get to know and trust me.
Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times;
    I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.
I’ll give you a long life,
    give you a long drink of salvation!”