When you pass that accident on the side of the road or read about the mass shooting in the press, what do you think?
What do you say?
Do you breathe a sigh of relief that no one you loved or knew was part of such a tragic disaster? Do you feel chosen, special, “above it all” because you follow Jesus?
Do you think that your faithful, Bible-focused life and worldview will protect you from random accidents or the sinful actions of others?
Do you say, “Thank You God, it wasn’t me (or mine)?” Do you pray for the ones caught up in the death and destruction? Pray that they knew Jesus? Pray that their families will be able to bear the weight of grief and sorrow that is just this moment bearing down on them?
Or do you snap a photo with your phone and post on social media something like: “Awful wreck on the interstate. So glad I was a little late this morning or it might have been me! God is good!”
Or worse: “Awful wreck on the interstate. Traffic backed up for miles. UGH!“
I walk in two worlds–one where I am so very thankful for each life and family spared what I now know by experience, and one where I am brought to tears every time they aren’t.
I wish believers in Christ would choose words that are consistent with compassion-whether the person is spared or not.
Jesus is a man of tears.
He was moved by love and compassion in every human encounter (even with the Pharisees-He wished their eyes were opened).
I want my heart and my words to reflect that I know this Savior full of love and mercy.
Spared or not, it’s no doing of mine.
To say otherwise reflects only arrogance and ignorance.
Just a moment, now, you who say, “We are going to such-and-such a city today or tomorrow. We shall stay there a year doing business and make a profit”! How do you know what will happen even tomorrow? What, after all, is your life? It is like a puff of smoke visible for a little while and then dissolving into thin air. Your remarks should be prefaced with, “If it is the Lord’s will, we shall be alive and will do so-and-so.” As it is, you get a certain pride in yourself in planning your future with such confidence. That sort of pride is all wrong. No doubt you agree with the above in theory. Well, remember that if a man knows what is right and fails to do it, his failure is a real sin.
James 4:14-17 PHILLIPS
