The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 121:7,8 ESV)
Accidents and Hope
While competing in the Victorian Country Chess Championship in Australia, I was defeated by a clever young teenager. He set me up. He pretended to accidentally move a key piece on the board to an apparently very silly place.
“What a lucky accident!” I theologically mused…
And then he pounced. He won. And I learned, that when this young man played chess there would be no accidents.
God does not move the world accidentally, either. We can see His plans unfold when we examine the story of His people Biblically, historically, and personally. That can be a comforting realization.
But in this Psalm, we are encouraged to also find comfort in the hope that God will continue this way. He will keep acting in our lives in the future. Simply put, in the lives of God’s people there will never be an accident.
God’s people will experience no accidents tomorrow. The candidate He intends to win will win the election. The bank account will contain the amount He intends for us to steward. No illness, breakup, thunderstorm, or sin surprises Him.
We might not understand what is happening, but God is at work. We might not be able to grasp what lesson God is teaching, but He is the Ultimate Rabbi. We might not feel we can endure the confusion, but we can believe that He will also provide His order. We might be shocked and confused, but He is peace.
I am involved in a lot of accidents. But God never will be.
I cause a lot of accidents. But God never will.
I might fear accidents. But in God’s economy, accidents are not real, and never will be.
Take the hope God grants us.