But for the Grace of God

Last night, while driving back from the south of Cebu island where I had visited the CSC kids at camp, I almost hit three women who were standing in the middle of the road. It was very dark, there were bright headlights in my eyes, and I didn't see them until it was almost too late. I swerved and barely missed them.

This morning when I woke up I thought about how different my life would be today if I had hit them. Almost certainly they would have been killed. I would have been put in jail until the police could determine fault, and it is fairly likely that, even though they were in the road in the dark, I would have been blamed. So, aside from the huge emotional blow of having hit and killed three people, I would have needed to pay a huge amount of money. My life would have been turned upside down. I would have a terrible memory to live with for the rest of my life. My life, my family and the ministry of CSC would have been affected significantly, not to mention the families of those women. I am so very thankful that I didn't hit them!

I think its true that our lives are full of "close call" experiences, choices and events that, had they gone a different way, would have changed the direction and quality of our lives or those of other people. Maybe it was a fork in the road where you needed to make a decision about your future, like taking a job, entering a relationship or making a change. Maybe it was something small, like choosing a class in college that opened up your mind to information or challenges that led you to choose a particular career. Maybe it was a bad choice that you avoided, something that would have dragged you down or put you on a path of misery. Perhaps it was a near miss like my experience on the road last night. Or it could be that something bad did happen, and we think about how much better our lives would be if it hadn't.

I wonder about why God chooses to intervene sometimes, and other times He does not. I guess its similar to the question that is raised in the song "God Help the Outcasts" in the Hunchback of Notre Dame:

I don't know if there's a reason

Why some are blessed, some not

Why the few You seem to favor

They fear us, flee us, try not to see us.

I'm not sure that I'll ever get an answer to the whys of this question. One part of dealing with this dilemma is to be thankful to God for the things He did spare us, and for the grace He gives to help deal with difficult things that do happen, whether they are of our own making or not. The second part is developing our compassion and grace in relating to those who have to deal with the results of tragedies. The key is to remember, with D. L. Moody, the reality that that person, but for the grace of God, is me.