Just around the corner

     

Last year (2005) I made an image called "Disaster is just around the corner" because I thought it was, although I was not sure who for.
God had impressed upon me the bible verses about how short life is and I began to think that disaster was just around the corner. I saw a dead kangaroo on the side of the road. I thought that disaster had been "just around the corner" for it. I thought that disaster was just like a car accident I had been in in 1997 when I came around a corner and hit flood waters, which caused the van I was in to spin and roll. December 17, 2005, I uploaded my image to an online gallery, hoping that the people who needed to know how short life is would see it. I pondered this word with some anxiety for some months then reminded myself that I did not need to be anxious because I am God's and He is mine. A few days later - (March 2006) I was later than normal setting out to work and the sun was higher at this time of morning. I often pray as I drive the half hour or so to work along the highway. I had just finished praying as I was about to exit the highway and turned a corner. The sun blinded me so that I could not see a truck parked on the side of the road. When I saw the images my daughter had taken of the car I thought of Job: "thus far and no further". Disaster can only lick at my heels because the Almighty One has a different perspective concerning things that happen on earth. He brings good things out of what we might think of as disasters. He protects those who come to Him for refuge from losing the most valuable things and I am convinced that a relationship with Him is the "treasure of treasures" more valuable than assets, even the asset of life on earth. We are like leaves in the wind.
I decided to check the bible for words about disasters but found none. I searched out the meaning of the word and found that it's original meaning was "unfavorable position of the astrological bodies". The sun certainly had been in an unfavorable position for me!
There have been a number of painful consequences of the accident but one of the good things God has brought out of this "disaster" was tilting my pelvis forward into a more comfortable position. It had been tilted backwards in a previous accident! Another good thing was that the insurance paid for a newer car. We had been thinking of selling the old car but would only have received half what we ended up getting from the insurance.

I think that one thing near death experiences can do is take away the fear of death. They can help us to put our life on earth into perspective, the perspective of eternity. After the 4th accident I felt that I had lost so much, but one thing I gained was the understanding that there is no way we can earn salvation. When we stand before God there is nothing we can boast of because every good thing we have or can do is a gift from God. Even our ability to love and our maturity in Christ is a gift. We cannot boast in it. It will not save us and can be a temporary ability/gift/knowledge. We are dependant upon the mercy of God and his arms are open wide longing to receive those who want Him.

From time to time people ask me why questions about disasters. I ask the question, "If we build our homes in an area that we know is prone to earthquakes, why do we blame God for the pain we experience when one comes, especially if we have never asked Him if we should be there in the first place?". Why do we expect earth to be heaven?

Trouble is unpleasant. We will exeperience pain because we have been created with that ability. However unpleasant trouble is, and how angry we may feel that a good God has allowed it, God uses it. Isaiah gives us a glimpse of the benefit of this aspect of human experience when he quotes God saying " I have chosen/tested you in the hard place/furnace of trouble/affliction." (Isaiah 48:12). Earth is this place. Earth is earth, not heaven. Being a Christian doesn't exclude us from all the troubles and difficulties of life on earth. We can only experience glimpses of what is perfect for now. Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart/cheer up! I have overcome the world". (John 16:33). Trouble gives us the opportunity to see how awesome God is and how human we are....how much we need a saviour. It helps us not to get too comfortable down here but to look forward to something far better - heaven.