In 1977, my wife went to Atlanta on a shopping trip with several of her friends. No problem. I would baby-sit our two children. But the Friday before the Saturday trip, I was offered overtime. We worked out a compromise. We sent our oldest to one of her friend’s house and my son to his babysitter. But Saturday, two hours into my afternoon shift, I got an emergency phone call at work from the babysitter. My son had hit his head on a glass-top coffee table and had opened an ugly gash above his eyebrow. My wife was unavailable (it was B.C., that is Before Cellphones), so I hurried from work to take Phillip to the Emergency Room. Our pediatrician met us at the hospital to stitch up the wound. Phillip was only a year and a half old, so we had to hold him still for the doctor to do his work. I still remember how Phillip looked at me as I held him for the doctor. It was a look of pain, disbelief, and betrayal. Phillip just couldn’t understand why I didn’t rescue him from that pain. He didn’t realize that I was holding him still for his own good. Hey, often we misunderstand God when we go through difficult times. Why isn’t God answering our prayers?! Why isn’t our heavenly Father listening?! But the problem isn’t with God; the problem is with our faulty understanding of God. The good Lord said in Isaiah 43:2, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee …” God is not absent, we just don’t see Him. God is right there giving us exactly what we need, not necessarily answering our prayers the way we want them answered. I am glad that the good, good Lord is in charge of everything and not me! He alone knows the end from the beginning and works everything out “after the counsel of his own will”.
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