"Why did God let this happen?" is something I’ve frequently heard from people who are in trouble. I want to question the person did God really let it happen or did you have something to do with this situation? Did anybody warn you not to do this, marry that person, take that job, stay too long or to not go to a certain place? When I've ask friends or acquaintances one of those questions, most of the time the person said, "Yes." They may go on to explain that their parents said not to do it, or their friends warned it was a bad idea to do a certain thing. Sometimes a person said, "I had this gut feeling not to go there."
As I listened I realized that the person is going against one or more of God’s principles. Then when things blow up in their faces the person blames God. I am not pointing fingers because I've done things in my life over which I've been warned not to do. At times I've had to pay the consequence for going against good advice. This topic reminds me of something that happened to my washing machine. My late husband Winston could fix almost anything that had a motor in it. He’d worked his way through Seattle Pacific University by fixing the washers and dryers on campus. He also worked for a while as an appliance repairman for Sears. One Saturday morning I loaded the washing machine and turned the knob to start the wash cycle. However it did not engage. The knob just went round and round very smoothly.
Winston came to look at the machine for me. He took the cover off the control panel to determine the source of the problem. When he came back from the store with the new part I stayed talking to him as he fixed the machine. He showed me the worn out part. “Look at how this is gear is very smooth,” he said. "Yes," I answered. “Well it’s not supposed to look this way” he continued. He showed me the new part that had notched ridges on the gear. “The gears are designed to engage as they turn” he told me. “ The gear has been stripped so when it’s smooth like this it can’t do the job,” he continued.
I was curious and asked, “How did it get this way.” I really wanted to know since the machine had been working fine up until that morning. He explained that it got that way by people turning the knob the wrong way. The knob is designed to be turned in a clockwise direction. He further explained that turning the knob counterclockwise will work, but that it’s rubbing the gears the wrong way. The entire time it's smoothing the gears out while ruining the mechanism. Then one day it just won't work anymore.
I thought this is like life. People blame God because they go against the way God designed life and then one day life just doesn’t work. One thing I’ve learned is that I don’t want to wake up one day and my life is in shambles. The times when I’ve decided to turn the knob of life, as it were, the wrong way I’ve paid the price. I’m a quicker learner now. I am learning to be accountable and thoughtful about my choices. I 1 can't keep blaming God for my willful actions that bring unwanted consequences. I pray that I will be wiser and follow the directions God has laid out for a peaceful life. By the way you can find out how the gears of life are to run by reading the Bible especially the Book of Proverbs.
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