Large and In Charge
Dan Kunz
If you watch the news at all, you have probably heard, as I have, phrases such as “divine intervention”, “the hand of God”, and “an act of God”, more times since last Saturday, than any time in the last several decades. The fact that former President (and current Presidential candidate) Donald Trump is still alive is nothing short of a miracle. To be sure, many questions need to be answered about how someone with a rifle could get within one hundred fifty yards from the stage where Donald Trump was speaking, but the fact that a bullet missed by an inch or less of killing him, is scary indeed! If you carefully watch the now famous video of the shooting, you’ll see Mr. Trump turn his head slightly to the right just as the sniper was squeezing the trigger. For those of you who have ever shot a rifle with a scope before, you know from the time you “acquire your target” to the time a bullet is speeding toward that target is usually a few seconds at most. Were it not for that turn of his head, we could be talking about a successful assassination, rather than a “non-life threatening” wound.
For you and I as Christians, it’s not surprising when God intervenes not only in the course of history, but also in the lives of individuals. Some believe that God created the world and then stepped back to watch how everything plays out. You and I know better. God is intimately involved with his creation and how things unfold. Sometimes God makes things happen and sometimes he allows things to happen, but he always knows what’s happening. By the way, lest anyone takes this “close call” as an endorsement of a particular person, political party, or ideology, remember that others have escaped death at the hands of an assassin, too. They weren’t all “nice guys”, either. The fact is, though, that God is in control, in charge. He ultimately will do the things which bless his people and/or execute his judgement. Sometimes it’s both, such as The Flood. Millions of people felt his judgement, but Noah and his family were spared.
The fact that God is “large” and “in charge” should be a source of great comfort to his people. Our Heavenly Father created the entire world using only a few words. Nothing is impossible for him. He controls the wind and the waves, as he did on the Sea of Galilee. He causes fearful earthquakes, as he did in the destruction of the rebellious Korah. God is not an absent landlord. He is not on vacation or disinterested. He always knows and always has a plan. Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. We may not see the plan immediately or maybe ever, but he still has it and executes it.
As we reflect on the events of last Saturday, we acknowledge things could have ended much differently. Had Donald Trump been assassinated, who knows what may have happened – chaos, turmoil, civil war? It’s scary to even think about it! Having been around long enough to live through several assassinations in our country’s history, I know it’s a scary and very uncertain time.
Whoever coined the phrase, “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future” was absolutely accurate and speaks great comfort to God’s people. Our God is very, very large and very, very in charge. Thanks for having our back, Father!