God's Providential Care (and the Seeming Lack Thereof)

I so often reflect on the seeming fickleness of what I refer to as “Providence,” (but what some refer to as “Luck” (or) “Chance” (or) “Fate” (or) “Circumstances” (or) “Happenstance.”)

However, as a “born again” Christian, I believe Providence (or) God are the most appropriate words.

And though I am convinced that “my times are in His hands” (Psalm 31:15) and that 

“The Lord will accomplish that which concerns me” (Psalm 138:8,) 

one has only to consider the relative brevity of life among some very good people, and the abundance of years granted to some very bad people to find one’s self confused about the fairness of it all.

Hardly a week goes by that I don’t reflect on the life of one of my classmates, in particular. “Janice” (not her real name) was a precious young lady of 17, and a senior in high school. She was a devout Christian, and even at her comparatively young age had impacted the lives of countless people.

Sadly, Janice left us far too soon; the result of an automobile accident.

And this dear soul is just one example among many very good people, righteous people, and people with admirable goals who “crossed the threshold” before having achieved what some refer to as their “God-given potential.”

And then there are folks like me.

And as perplexed as I am about the abbreviated life of my high school friend, who left us at what must have been the earliest possible moment, I am equally perplexed about the providential care God has afforded me; one who is preparing to cross a demarcation I refer to as 2/3 of a century.

For there have been multiple occasions in my own life in which I might have easily “bought the (proverbial) farm.”

A single car rollover as an adolescent

A high school accident in which a runaway car ran over ten or twelve of my peers, injuring many, and taking the life of one. I would have been first, had I not stepped out of the path of the vehicle a moment before it passed.

A work-related incident in which the sweep of a dragline bucket (yes, a dragline bucket) the size of a small house came within inches of taking my life

A fall from a ladder onto solid concrete

A melanoma which required major surgery

A vehicular incident in which my wife and I almost “plowed into” another automobile, missing it by inches, and finding ourselves in “180 mode” before finally rolling to a stop

And the list goes on.

While I cannot account for the seeming fickleness of God. Whereas some of the most promising people on earth are taken before their time, others, like myself, have been granted long (and sometimes productive) lives.

I only know that I want my life to count for something. And I think in some, perhaps, ethereal manner it behooves me to “fill in the gaps” for these dear folks who left us before having achieved God’s designs for their lives.

 By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 10. Copyright Vol.'s 1-15, 2015

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