A Slap in the Face

I can remember the day as if it was yesterday. I was at work at the hospital when my supervisor came up to me and told me that my girlfriend, on the floor below, needed me. At first I had no idea what she was talking about. She then told me that word had just come that her brother had been killed in Vietnam. I was stunned. I couldn't say anything. It was the biggest slap in the face that I had ever experienced. The days that followed felt like they weren't real, like they were something off TV.

A couple of weeks ago, after a bridal shower for my nephew and his bride, my sister-in-law, who wasn't feeling well all day, had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS). She had received the diagnosis last January but never told us till now. I was stunned. Another slap in the face that left me speechless.

I ask myself, "Why do these things have to happen? It just doesn't seem fair". I used to watch Touched by an Angel and there was a statement that has stuck with me, "life isn't fair, but God is". We only experience some of what can happen. We have no idea of the things that could have happened that God put a stop to. God is sovereign and if we submit our lives to Him, then we can expect that there will be times when we don't understand. We have to trust that He knows what is best and only wants the good things for us. There is more at stake than our physical bodies, we cannot throw up our hands and turn from Him because of life's tragedies. The greatest loss would be our salvation and that is a slap in the face that I do not want to experience.