He Watching Over Israel

When a friend’s ax hit a stubborn branch, volleying the ax back onto his head, leaving him on the ground to be found by his children and subsequently air-lifted to the Med, some of us who gathered to help and pray, couldn’t help but ask, “Why?” Just one swing of an ax, perhaps just an angle, a few degrees, a shifting of weight, an error in judgment, and a brilliant oncologist, fresh out of residency, married, with four children is struck down.

Fortunately, that story ended well and he recovered fully, but I remember finally acknowledging the obvious, “He got hit in the head with the ax because of the laws of nature.” It’s not that life is random or capricious or that God is off-duty. It’s just that cause and effect are realities. And as much as we want God to intervene to prevent accidents and illnesses, we know that often He does not.

But He does intervene. He does heal. He acts. He works. He causes things to happen. He parts seas, confuses enemies, sends angels, warns of imminent dangers. I’m sure we’ll all be astonished when we get to heaven to see how much He did intervene and we didn’t see it, acknowledge it. For every time something awful doesn’t happen, the cynic recalls the hundreds of times it did, and concludes that God is helpless or unconcerned, and I confess that even as a Christian, I can think that way, too.

But not today. Today I’m filled with thanksgiving for what I see as divine intervention, divine protection.

Natalie was driving on I-40, three hours into her trip back to school at UT Chattanooga, our minivan packed to the full, when she decided to stop for a bathroom break and fill up the tank. The price wasn’t good, so she pulled up to the front of the quick mart instead of the gas pump. As she pulled into the space she noticed a burning smell, saw smoke, jumped out of the car, was met with someone yelling, “Your car is on fire!” She then saw the flames coming out of the hood. Within seconds they had a fire extinguisher and were able to put the fire out. The wonderful people at the Pilot Gas Station in Dickson, TN made sure the fire was out completely, took Natalie inside, comforted her, offered coffee.

Those of us who’ve had cars start smoking or catch on fire while driving down a highway know how frightening that is. We’ve seen a car in flames on the side of the road, the poor owner standing there helpless. We know of worse outcomes I’ll only allude to, myself unwilling to let my mind go there.

When an oil cap falls off in a moving car, oil spills out onto the engine. Engines get hot. Oil catches on fire. Fires burn and destroy. It’s cause and effect. It’s as it should be. A world that didn’t follow laws of physics would be much more precarious and dangerous than we imagine this one to be. (I guess it would be impossible to have a world without these laws, but I can’t speak on things scientific though I am currently trying to read, “Intelligent Design”. Trying being the operative word.)

Natalie was protected. She is safe because she got off the interstate and stopped at a safe place with a fire extinguisher close by. A skeptic would say that was cause and effect, too, a lucky coincidence. We don’t see it that way. We are so thankful that He directed her to stop when she did, just in time, protecting her from all that could have happened had she not stopped at that time, had no one been there to help her, had the price of gas been cheaper, the fire extinguisher empty.

We praise Him for protecting her, for guiding her to safety, for making a bad situation turn out so well. I just wanted you to share in our joy, to join me in worshiping the God who is there, who condescends to involve Himself in our affairs, who "watching over Israel, slumbers not, nor sleeps.” Psalms 121:4.