Was God's Hand Not on Him That Day?

About seven months ago I had the opportunity to hear a survivor of the Black Saturday bushfires speak about how he and his family had been impacted on that day. By the end I'm pretty sure all his listeners were in tears. He told us about the tragic death of his brother in the fire. He also related to us how the fires from two directions stopped at the edges of the grounds of the conference centre he himself runs with his wife. A lady in the audience commented: "God's hand was really on you that day". His response was unexpected, but profound. I can't remember his exact words, so I'll have to paraphrase "I don't like to say that. My brother was a Christian and a husband and father. Was God's hand not on him that day?"

Since that day, I've pondered this a number of times. I think the majority of Christians believe that God is with us in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health... in theory. In theory we have faith that God loves us more than we can comprehend. But do our lives reflect that in practice?

When bad things happen, I often find myself responding as if God weren't there. I'm not suggesting that we should abdicate responsibility for our lives. However, when things outside our control go wrong, we can't change the outcome next time by doing things differently. Tragedy may strike us, even if we have prayed for God's guidance and wisdom in a particular area of our lives. If we focus all our energies on simply trying to prevent the same thing happening again, then we are saying one of two things: either that God is not strong enough/doesn't care enough to protect us OR that we ourselves in some way ignored or rejected God's guidance. Certainly there are times when we haven't "listened" to God, but when we have, we need to trust that the outcome - no matter how unpleasant - was according to His will.

We are often quick to praise God for the times of quiet and comfort - do we also praise Him in times of disquiet and discomfort? Aren't both in our best interests? Doesn't He know what circumstances will best promote our growth? Just imagine if the apostle Paul had given up on preaching the gospel the first time he was ship-wrecked or beaten!

Too often I find myself caught up in the badness of a bad situation, instead of asking what I can learn or how I can grow through the pain. Christ said "...blessed are the persecuted..." "...blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you..." Do we believe Him? Christ said "I'll never leave you, nor forsake you". Do we believe Him? God's hand is on us when we submit ourselves to Him, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness or in health... God doesn't suddenly abandon us in floods or fires or earthquakes or grief. Do we believe that?

King David wrote, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me." Even in moments of the most profound tragedy, God's hand is on us. It's up to us to believe it.