Have you ever had this experience where something bad happens but then a series of associated events convinces you that God is active and at work? Drove to Grand Marais last weekend with the eventual destination of the Arrowhead Trail. The car started smoking around Lutsen, the check engine light came on at Cascade Lodge and the oil light came on as we crested the hill going into Grand Marais. A shop was in sight, and travelers coming behind us picked us up four hours later. Where it happened and how it happened convinced me that God was watching over us but I wondered why He didn't prevent it from happening in the first place. If He is big enough to unmistakably handle the problem why doesn't he prevent the problem in the first place?

God has a purpose and timing for everything.We need to look for that in everything that we go through.
Might not know the reason for a couple of weeks or so.
Just know that we can give God the glory for all things that we go through.
I have been following the Faith or science thread, and all I can say is I am glad that I can look and trust in a God that loves me and cares for me.I know that for sure.

I have tried to add a link to an article written by Margie Zacharias called "Reflections on Suffering". Hopefully I was able to add the link successfully. If not you can google Ravi Zacharias and find his web site. From the home page find the Just Thinking tab on the right hand side. Click on it and scroll down to find the reflections on suffering article. When I had read your question at the end of your post about why didn't God prevent something from happening in the first place I knew that I had read an article dealing with this in the past. I really got a lot out of this article and I hope it helps you also. The web site that this article comes from is the Web site of a man named Ravi Zacharias. He is an Apologist which is a defender of the Christian faith. He writes books and lectures across the world defending the faith but never in a way that would demean or attack anyone else and their own personnel beliefs.


reflections on suffering

Thanks, I have heard Ravi Zacharias speak many times but not in a while and I kind of lost track of him. I'll check it out.

Sometimes we never do learn the reason. I still believe God has his hand on my life, and that "All things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose."

There is just a lot more to this than my finite mind can comprehend.

Gosh, over the years I can now see so many things in my life that ranged from bad to devastating; I see many that resulted in positive directions for my life. Spending my life in healthcare, I deal with death a lot. I heard this little story I sometimes use:

A little kid is playing in the floor when he looks over at mom. Looking up at her lap, he asks what she's doing. "I'm doing needlework and I'm making a pretty picture." The toddler replies "From down here it just looks like a mess." The mother tells him to climb on her knee and look at it from above. "Mom, it IS a pretty picture!" Sometimes from down here it looks like a mess.

Romans 8:28
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
I try hard to remember that when I'm going through those valleys and swamps of this life!