Yep, it happened. ... Reed wrecked his truck.
Fortunately no one was seriously hurt. Julie had been preparing us for a while by saying, "He'll get in an accident so be ready." While I accepted that, I just figured he'd not be since he seemed so careful.
Unfortunately, it was a scenario that I've seen many adults fall into and at least one of them have very serious medical problems as a result to this day. He was stopped waiting on two lanes of busy traffic in front of him to clear so he could cross the road. Someone stops in the first lane, being nice in their mind, to let him out but they don't continually check the next lane which is impossible to see. There is actually a little pressure here for a driver. You want to accept someone's hospitality and also to keep them from waiting very long, but the reality is they aren't helping you and it is hard to recognize that. Sure enough, Reed pulls across quickly and someone is going every bit of the speed limit in the other lane and T-Bones him. Fortunately it was in the door behind his door. The driver in the first lane who had stopped for him did not stay around to see the results of the accident. Wasn't too nice of a person after all it seems.
Almost every day I've prayed for Reed in the following way:
A. Keep him safe.
B. Help him to choose the right decision (the one he knows is good) when faced with a choice.
C. Lead him to good friends.
D. Protect him while he drives.
E. Heal his jaw/teeth.
I'm sure there are other prayer types for Reed such as learning to depend upon God every day, to discover how to commit all of himself to a goal, and help us to be the right parents for him, but these represent some basic identifiable things for this conversation.
Since he had a wreck, then can I say that God didn't listen to item D? Or do I say that my prayer is worthless and he doesn't listen to me? Do I wonder what the point of praying even is if God is going to do whatever He wants to do anyway? Since items D and E aren't answered, do I wonder when the rest fall apart? I could say that item A was answered while D wasn't. How do I reconcile that?
This is the normal thinking of man right? This is our natural thought process. There is another thought process much more simple and crude and that one just gets mad that any god would let this happen and discounts that anything exists spiritually.
And yet ... there is another thought process. This one says that God knows all, sees all, and is all. This one says I have to have faith that whatever is allowed to happen in a world that He is in and operating, doesn't happen apart from His approval and purpose. There's that F-word again! He has been beating me over the head with it and shouting it at me for a while now. (God is shouting the F-word at me!)
Faith, faith, faith, faith, faith, faith. I have to believe that God allows item D to not happen so what He knows about Reed on the inside, things I don't even know to pray about, can be brought out and have the opportunity to heal or made whole. I have to believe that God allows item D to not happen because God knows what is required for His will to be done and it is most probable that I'll never know or understand how the two relate together. But I have to trust Him ... in Faith.
Fortunately no one was seriously hurt. Julie had been preparing us for a while by saying, "He'll get in an accident so be ready." While I accepted that, I just figured he'd not be since he seemed so careful.
Unfortunately, it was a scenario that I've seen many adults fall into and at least one of them have very serious medical problems as a result to this day. He was stopped waiting on two lanes of busy traffic in front of him to clear so he could cross the road. Someone stops in the first lane, being nice in their mind, to let him out but they don't continually check the next lane which is impossible to see. There is actually a little pressure here for a driver. You want to accept someone's hospitality and also to keep them from waiting very long, but the reality is they aren't helping you and it is hard to recognize that. Sure enough, Reed pulls across quickly and someone is going every bit of the speed limit in the other lane and T-Bones him. Fortunately it was in the door behind his door. The driver in the first lane who had stopped for him did not stay around to see the results of the accident. Wasn't too nice of a person after all it seems.
Almost every day I've prayed for Reed in the following way:
A. Keep him safe.
B. Help him to choose the right decision (the one he knows is good) when faced with a choice.
C. Lead him to good friends.
D. Protect him while he drives.
E. Heal his jaw/teeth.
I'm sure there are other prayer types for Reed such as learning to depend upon God every day, to discover how to commit all of himself to a goal, and help us to be the right parents for him, but these represent some basic identifiable things for this conversation.
Since he had a wreck, then can I say that God didn't listen to item D? Or do I say that my prayer is worthless and he doesn't listen to me? Do I wonder what the point of praying even is if God is going to do whatever He wants to do anyway? Since items D and E aren't answered, do I wonder when the rest fall apart? I could say that item A was answered while D wasn't. How do I reconcile that?
This is the normal thinking of man right? This is our natural thought process. There is another thought process much more simple and crude and that one just gets mad that any god would let this happen and discounts that anything exists spiritually.
And yet ... there is another thought process. This one says that God knows all, sees all, and is all. This one says I have to have faith that whatever is allowed to happen in a world that He is in and operating, doesn't happen apart from His approval and purpose. There's that F-word again! He has been beating me over the head with it and shouting it at me for a while now. (God is shouting the F-word at me!)
Faith, faith, faith, faith, faith, faith. I have to believe that God allows item D to not happen so what He knows about Reed on the inside, things I don't even know to pray about, can be brought out and have the opportunity to heal or made whole. I have to believe that God allows item D to not happen because God knows what is required for His will to be done and it is most probable that I'll never know or understand how the two relate together. But I have to trust Him ... in Faith.
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