While Kathie was being processed, Cecil drove home. Or, almost home.
As it turns out, Cecil was drunk. Very drunk. In fact, Cecil's blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit. When he was about half a mile from his house, Cecil drove the car off the road, through several fences and, eventually, into a tree. Thankfully, Cecil was fine. But Kathie's five year old son Michael, who was sleeping in the backseat, was not fine. He didn't survive the accident.
Can you imagine being the police officer who handed the keys to Cecil that night? He was doing the right thing. He was taking an illegal driver off the roads. He was making the streets of Chicago Heights safer places to drive. But, tragedy struck anyway.
He double-checked Cecil's license. He made sure that it was Cecil's vehicle. He even watched Cecil walk from the passenger side of the car to the driver's side to confirm that Cecil was fit to drive. But, tragedy struck anyway.
I don't know that you or I will ever quite understand what this cop is feeling today. However, as Christians, we should understand the concept.
The Bible promises us that, even when we do the right thing, tragedy can strike anyway. Going through with the pregnancy doesn't guarantee that our baby will live. Going to counseling doesn't mean that our marriage will survive. Going to church doesn't ensure that our kids will follow Christ.
Though we sometimes pretend that it is, Christianity is not about avoiding tragedy. It's about hope in the midst of tragedy. It's about faith, regardless of our circumstances. It's about love, when loving is hard to do.
It's also about handing over life's keys and putting ourselves in the passenger seat....regardless of who's dangling them in front of us.
WELL SAID!!!
ReplyDeleteOh my soul. Well put, Tim.
ReplyDeleteI hope you've lived through something hard enough to say this and understand the difficulty in understanding 'hope in the midst of tragedy'. I say that because when a person going through divorce or the loss of a child reads this they are going to need more than a brief quip on how they should view what happens in their lives to feel better about their situation and feel hopeful again.
ReplyDeleteTrust me...I don't throw around these comments lightly. Nor without any experience. My first marriage ended in divorce after months of counseling. My mom has battled colon cancer. My wife had a miscarriage early on in our first pregnancy.
ReplyDeleteHope doesn't mean enjoying the process, or even handling tragedy very well. Hope does mean knowing that God has a big plan, even if we don't understand it. It means realizing that after the pain, after the heartache, after the grief, there's a reason to keep going.
I agree Tim. I had struggled with infertility, my husband filed for divorce several years ago and I am currently facing health issues that they are trying to pinpoint, but may mean some sort of surgery in my head. God is trying to teach me to trust that no matter what I am facing, that He still reigns and that I can trust Him with every aspect of my life. None of this was ever fun or easy and many times I struggled with doubts and fears, "but I will always have hope and I will praise Him more and more." Psalm 71:14.
ReplyDeleteBy God's grace alone, he blessed us with two children. God is faithful to redeem all circumstances. I will see a new relationship and healing in His time. Which is never fast enough for me, but He sees the big picture and I don't....so I wait with great expectation of what He wants to do in my life.
Love Him and praise no matter what happens or how you feel. Focus on what He has done for you or for others, as David did, and one day you too will received what was promised.
I agree with you Amy and Tim. Sometimes life is very hard and we don't understand the things that we go through,I find comfort in knowing that no matter what God is in control.
ReplyDeleteScott Kirpayne put out a wonderful song a few years ago that will always be a favorite. "Sometimes He calms the storms" That song really helped me when I was going through some dark days because sometimes God does calm the storms and other times He calms His child.
Every time I hear of a tragedy of any kind, I pray that the person going through it does have faith in God and knows His grace. Can you imagine how much MORE difficult it would be to get through anything if you did not know HIM?
ReplyDeleteI have to ask, how you can seem calm, matter of fact, and still see so much in black and white after going through hard things like you have. I've found that those same types of situations in my life leave me never bouncing back to my old trust in hope. I definitely go through the motions, hoping my emotions will follow. But if I was honest, they haven't and it leaves me discouraged and down sometimes.
ReplyDeleteDon't let my matter of fact-ness let you think that I have this all figured out. I don't. These trying times in our lives force our theology to meet our reality...and, often, the two clash. We have to weigh what God promises with what our human minds can comprehend.
ReplyDeleteIt's okay to feel discouraged and down sometimes, we all do. But, even if the valleys are deep, God promises to see us through. As hard as it is for our finite minds to understand, an eternity in Heaven is the goal, not happiness here on Earth.