However bad we may be at implementing it (we're human, after all), Christians do have a framework for this: "All things work together for the good of those who love God" and "give thanks in all circumstances". There is an acknowledgement that God's in charge, we don't always get to know the "big picture" reason behind what happens, but ideally, we trust that God knows what He's doing, and if we obey Him, and give thanks, things work out. They do, too.
I was inwardly compelled to attend vespers one evening years ago-- even though I had not planned to go. I was late getting out of the house, and was irritated about it. Coming up on a turn off the highway, traffic in front of me came to a very abrupt halt. I stopped in time to avoid hitting the shiny Cadillac in front of me. The lady behind me had been yelling at her preschooler in the back seat, screeched her tires and hit my bumper. We pulled off the road. No real damage (I regard a few scrapes and dents on a car as an asset: each one makes my car a less enticing target for thieves). As soon as I verified that the trunk still worked, and eager to get on the road before I was any *more* late, I was just like "I don't see any reason to call the cops or get insurance involved, if you're OK with that." The lady sobbed and hugged me and burbled something about insurance rates and traffic citations and told me I was an angel. I'm not a touchy-feely person, and this was truly bizarre.
But... I've never been mad about it. It was immediately clear to me, that I needed to go to Vespers that evening, and be late, so that poor woman would run into my car, and not the shiny Cadillac whose driver would insist on getting cops and insurance involved. And probably there are a lot of things that work out that way, without being so obvious. So it's a reference point. It helped me not be frustrated the last time I had to make a U-turn and retrace 20 miles of my route to retrieve my wallet from a bathroom floor. I have no idea why that needed to happen, and probably will never know, but I trust it was important, so... no worries, right? It was a much more pleasant forty miles with the confidence that "well, this is one of those absurd things that needs to happen" rather than "Crap I can't believe I didn't notice my wallet was missing and now I've wasted an hour of my Very Important day"
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2020-09-09 05:19 pm (UTC)However bad we may be at implementing it (we're human, after all), Christians do have a framework for this: "All things work together for the good of those who love God" and "give thanks in all circumstances". There is an acknowledgement that God's in charge, we don't always get to know the "big picture" reason behind what happens, but ideally, we trust that God knows what He's doing, and if we obey Him, and give thanks, things work out. They do, too.
I was inwardly compelled to attend vespers one evening years ago-- even though I had not planned to go. I was late getting out of the house, and was irritated about it. Coming up on a turn off the highway, traffic in front of me came to a very abrupt halt. I stopped in time to avoid hitting the shiny Cadillac in front of me. The lady behind me had been yelling at her preschooler in the back seat, screeched her tires and hit my bumper. We pulled off the road. No real damage (I regard a few scrapes and dents on a car as an asset: each one makes my car a less enticing target for thieves). As soon as I verified that the trunk still worked, and eager to get on the road before I was any *more* late, I was just like "I don't see any reason to call the cops or get insurance involved, if you're OK with that." The lady sobbed and hugged me and burbled something about insurance rates and traffic citations and told me I was an angel. I'm not a touchy-feely person, and this was truly bizarre.
But... I've never been mad about it. It was immediately clear to me, that I needed to go to Vespers that evening, and be late, so that poor woman would run into my car, and not the shiny Cadillac whose driver would insist on getting cops and insurance involved. And probably there are a lot of things that work out that way, without being so obvious. So it's a reference point. It helped me not be frustrated the last time I had to make a U-turn and retrace 20 miles of my route to retrieve my wallet from a bathroom floor. I have no idea why that needed to happen, and probably will never know, but I trust it was important, so... no worries, right? It was a much more pleasant forty miles with the confidence that "well, this is one of those absurd things that needs to happen" rather than "Crap I can't believe I didn't notice my wallet was missing and now I've wasted an hour of my Very Important day"