Photos on this site were taken by Dan Heagey in Cades Cove, near Gatlinburg, TN I was headed west on Kingston Pike, on the way to pick up the babysitter. Suddenly an older Volkswagen darted left across four lanes of traffic, right in front of me. My larger car struck the right side of his car. Shattered glass scattered everywhere! The noise was horrific!
I managed to get the door of my car open. I got out and began directing traffic away from the wreckage. Then I noticed a tiny baby, lying on the pavement covered in blood. She was screaming and trembling. Instinctively I picked her up and nestled her in my arms. A very kind man came over and asked if he could hold her for me while I directed traffic. I stopped a passer-by. "Please help me. Call an ambulance," I cried.
Then I walked over to the mangled Volkswagen. The apparent driver was standing outside of the wreckage. He appeared to be in a daze. "Let's hurry and get your wife out of the floorboard," I suggested. As I looked through the shattered window I could see the petite, limp body of his wife, lying folded on the floor, as one would fold a blanket. She made no sound. Her head too was covered in blood. Together we picked her up and lay her on the shoulder of the road in the grass. "Tilt her head back so she can breathe," I said. Because I was in shock I did not realize that there was no life in her. She had died on impact. The tiny baby she had held in her lap had been flung through the windshield. In the back seat, two other small children cried desperately for their mother.
Perhaps you find it difficult to carry on without thinking about a certain incident. You may even be angry at God. Or you may be searching day after day trying to make sense of particular things you wish you knew the answer too.
Because of the car accident, and other things that God has more recently brought about in my life, I want to share with you what I have learned from reading and diligently studying God's Word. I trust the truths I have learned will help you with the WHY as much as they help me.
1. God is in control of everything and everyone in the world. (Job Chapters 38,39; Ephesians Chapter 1).
2. We should never conclude that there are defects in God's administration of justice. We should never say something like: "I am a good person. I don't deserve this." All of Scripture tells us that God does all things well. (Psalm 22:28).
3. Whatever you and I conclude about the things we do not understand, we must NEVER think anything happens to us that is outside of God's will. There are no "accidents." Whatever happens can always be reconciled according to the true and holy nature of God. (Job 41:10,11).
4. There are many things that are not meant to be understood here on earth. God tells us that the secret things belong to Him. The things He has revealed in His Word and by His Spirit belong to us. Deuteronomy 29:29.
5. Everything God brings into the lives of His children has a redemptive purpose and a restorative end. (Ephesians Chapter 1).
6. God uses problems in the Christian's life to mold and refine us into vessels of honor, fit for His glory. He also, having power over everyone else, molds the non-Christian into vessels of wrath. This too is for His own glory (Romans 9:21-23).
7. God is not changed in any way by the crisis in our lives, rather, it is us who are brought to repentance and a change of heart. (Psalm 82:8,9).
8. God never causes His children to experience needless tears. He constantly works everything together for our good and His glory. (Romans 8:28).
9. The Bible does not support the over-simplistic idea that only wicked people suffer in this life, while godly people always prosper. (The Book of Job).
10. It is impossible for us as sinful human beings to have a proper understanding of God's administration of all things. The great Creator has wisdom that is far beyond our understanding. Even if He explained everything fully, we could not get it! Our elevators do not go up that far!!!! (Isaiah 55:8).
11. Scripture teaches that believers will be given a full understanding of all things when we reach Heaven (1 Corinthians Chapter 13).
12. Anything that God sends into our lives is far less than what our iniquities deserve. "Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves" (Job 11:6).
13. How can the clay ever say to the Potter, "Why have you done this to me?" (Romans 9:21).
14. We should never despise what God has brought into our lives. "Happy is the man whom God corrects; therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty" (Job 5:17).
15. Before we consult God on anything we need to keep in mind that in everything we think and do, we do so from a sinful position. There is no good in our nature. The only good there is comes from the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us. (Romans 3:23).
16. We are ALWAYS in need of chastening and correcting. God is faithfulness afflicts us. This is one of the many ways He shows us that He loves us. (Psalm 119:75).
17. The GREATEST pain in life is not our everyday trials but being out of fellowship with our Creator. (Psalm 119:105-112).
18. True Christian faith requires us to trust in what is often unseen. Our triumph in our Christian walk is based on our trusting God even when everything tells us to abandon our faith in the unseen hand of God. (Psalm 119:89-93).