I was watching the evening news, riveted to a story about a serious car accident—two vehicles ended up as piles of mangled metal. One of the survivors told a reporter how she was stuck inside the vehicle, and people were trying to get her free.
The situation was dire because gas was dripping out, and there was the risk of fire. A man leaned protectively over the woman, shielding her as the others tried to get her free. And then the flames began. The trapped woman panicked.
My heart sped up as she shared her story, deep emotion coloring her voice. Then she spoke the words that made me gasp. Terrified by the flames, she was told by the man leaning over her, “They have to come though me before they get to you.”
Wow. What an amazing thing to say—and such an awesome reminder for all of us that nothing can happen to us unless it comes through God first.
That man’s words reminded me of a passage of Scripture in the Book of Job. When the evil one wanted to attack Job, even he had to go to God first. God knew the depth of Job’s character. He knew that the circumstances would be difficult, but they would shape Job’s life in a way that nothing else could—and He knew that the stories He’d someday put in the Bible about Job’s life would inspire and encourage the rest of us.
But the story doesn’t end there. Job made it through the hard times—God even gave him back double what he’d lost—and at the end of the book of Job, I love it when Job says words to the effect of “I knew of You before, but now I know You. Something that wouldn’t have happened without those difficult life experiences.
I’m sure the woman in that awful accident will never completely get over those terrifying moments. I imagine Job remembered the heartache from those times of suffering for the rest of his life.
Both of those stories serve as great reminders that hardships in life have to come through God before they get to us, that He will be with us through every second of those trials, that those moments will draw us closer to Him, and that He has a purpose and plan for each of His beloved children. What better security plan than that?
