Timing ISN'T everything

There is also motive. And method. And the end result.

Take this sad story. A mother driving her four kids races to beat a train and almost wins. She was so focused on the train she was racing that she didn't see the other one. Her apparent motive wasn't really bad in itself. Those freight trains can be really, really long. But her method was stupid, her timing was way off, and the end result was horribly tragic.

In this case, it was the mother's conscious decision to do the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong way for what she must have thought was the right reason. The kids could do nothing but go along for the ill-fated ride.

There is something going on in my life right now that, if it had been happening even just a few years ago, would have had me extremely angry and worried to the point of illness. The drivers in this scenario are people doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons in the wrong way. And while I'm just a passenger with no control over the situation, and the timing and end result are unknown, I'm OK. The worst thing that can happen to me is no big deal, and may actually end up being a blessing.

And that's because my trust isn't in those drivers, it is in God. He has proven to me again and again that His promises are true. Especially this one:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:10-12)

So I'll leave the end result and timing to Him, and not worry about it. I'll do my best to glorify Him in how I react. And I'll pray for the people in the driver's seat, that they might stop what they are doing before they hit the train.

And if they don't stop, I pray that God use me to somehow help the other victims.