Adrift on a sea of chance?

"NY Med" is a new summer program that features cutting edge medical procedures interwoven with personal stories of the patients. It's not actors playing surgeons; it is real doctors dealing with real people. (ABC, 10 pm, Monday) While watching it, the tenuous hold we have on this thing called, 'life,' was refreshed in my mind. A person does not have to be living recklessly to have a serious illness creep up.  Suddenly, we find that we are fighting for survival.
Cancer shows up during a 'routine' exam.
Terrible infection takes hold.
A baby is born with some part undeveloped.
Alzheimer's begins to steal memory.
This knowledge could fill us with fear and/or despair.

Then, we read the 'God-story' and the rest of the picture emerges. From our side of time it appears that we are adrift on a sea of chance, lucky if we dodge the bullet for another day. From God's side, our lives are a purposeful journey with an assurance of His hand to guide us until we are finally home. There is peace found in the promise of the Scripture that says "I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!" (Psalm 139:14-17, NIV)

Though I live secure in His will, I am not a fatalist. God's rule and the our gift of freedom are declared in the Word. They seem to be mutually exclusive, at first glance. The Bible teaches me that my Father's will is always accomplished even as it makes plain that He gives me the freedom to choose to accept or reject His purpose. Dr. Richard Dobbins writes that "God's will is like a stream. You can step in and out of a stream.   Many people see God's will like a road that comes to a fork. If you take the wrong path at the fork, you can't go back into the will of God. If you see God's will as a stream, at times you will step into it and sometimes you will step out of it. When you step out, you will miss the refreshing that comes from it. That fact that you're out, does not mean you cannot get back into it."    (http://www.drdobbins.com/guidelines-for-great-living/articles/how-to-find-gods-will-for-your-life/)

If you focus only on your own resources, desires, and plans you will eventually come to the point of despair that shapes the book of Ecclesiastes. There 'the Preacher' (Solomon in old age) bemoans the emptiness of his life, the apparent meaninglessness of all his endeavors. His existentialism - his efforts to discover a life with meaning in pleasure, accomplishment, and study - was not enough to let him come to old age with hope. A bitter cynic, he says " So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:17, NIV) What a contrast is found in the words Paul writes from a dungeon at the end of his life.  He faithfully looked to live in the center of God's will. Despite many disappointments and not a few days of sorrow, his reflection is full of anticipation and hope! "I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." (2 Timothy 1:12, NIV) He had no regrets! Even though some did not consider him a success because he had found neither wealth nor acclaim, he states that he has nothing to hide or for which he felt any need to apologize. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8, NIV)

Secure yourself in the love of your Heavenly Father. When the feelings of fear come, when circumstances enter your life that you cannot explain, for which you can discern no purpose, choose trust. Here's a word from the Word. Read it, believe it, own it! "Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. ...I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. ... Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD; may your love and your truth always protect me. For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. Be pleased, O LORD, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me." (Psalm 40:4-5, 8, 11-13, NIV)

_________________

My Life Is In Your Hands

You don't have to worry

And don't you be afraid

Joy comes in the morning

Troubles they don't last always

For there's a friend named Jesus

Who will wipe your tears away

And if your heart is broken

Just lift your hands and say

(Oh) I know that I can make it

I know that I can stand

No matter what may come my way

My life is in Your hands

With Jesus I can take it

With Him I know I can stand

No matter what may come my way

My life is in Your hands

So when your tests and trials

They seem to get you down

And all your friends and loved ones

Are nowhere to be found

Remember there's a friend named Jesus

Who will wipe your tears away

And if your heart is broken

Just lift your hands and say

Oh I know that I can make it

I know that I can stand

No matter what may come my way

My life is in Your hands

Kirk Franklin

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