Whose Fault Is It?

           Everyone knows the story of Job, right?  How God allowed Satan to harass a man of great faith in the Lord.  And then God inasmuch said to the devil, "If you want to cause Job distress, go ahead, everything he has is in your hands." 

            You know what happens from there.  The words are scarcely out of God's mouth when Sabeans massacre Job's servants, killing sheep and shepherds, Chaldeans slaughter camels and herdsmen, and a desert wind collapses a house on Job's children. 

            I think you'd agree, that's a hard story to understand, because it begs the question, who caused Job's trials?  And that's a question I had to ask myself after my diving accident in which I became paralyzed, because at the bottom-line, I had to know who was responsible.  We know that God takes no joy in human agony. 

And the Bible underscores that nothing happens by accident, not even tragedy, not even sins committed against us.  So how do we put the two together?  Well, after years of study and prayer, I can tell you that God permits all sorts of things He doesn't approve of.  And He will often allow others to do what He would never do Himself.

            It wasn't God who stole Job's camels.  He did not entice those blood-thirsty Sabeans to wreack havoc.  He did not push the four pillars of the house down on a joyous family dining party, and yet... God did not take His hand off the wheel for thirty seconds, either.  Evil can only raise its ugly head where God deliberately backs away-always, always for reasons that are specific, wise, and good-but often hidden; they are hidden from us in this present life.

            So... who caused my diving accident?  I could ask, "Was it God's fault?" and be assured that although He's sovereign, no, it was not His fault.  I could ask, "Well then, was my accident a direct attack from the devil?" and yes, maybe it was.  Or, I could press further and say that it was not the direct assault of either the devil or God, but simply the consequence of living in a fallen world fraught with dangers (like a shifting sandbar in the shallow water of the Chesapeake Bay). 

            Friend, this lesson from Job may speak to you today in a very special and personal way, because you may feel as though your circumstances are careening out of control.  So, hey, take it from me, the lady in the wheelchair with the same questions:  Please remember that God is with you through it.  Please remember that He is loving you and caring for you... and He's allowing the details to play out exactly in accordance with His plan.  Friend, when life seems wild, crazy, and utterly out of control, it is not!  When it seems as though God has forgotten you or turned His back on you to tinker with some other universe, He has not.  When it seems like you have somehow fallen out of His favor, been edged outside the circle of His protection, or missed the bus on His love, you have not.

            And that's what it means to walk by faith; faith in the sovereign Lord whose purposes, even for Job, are always wise and good. 

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