A Moment in Time

I have been keeping a personal journal since I was 17. One of the things I love to do is re-read journals for perspective. Yesterday during my morning devotions I was reading about "God time" and how He simply "IS". I remember a lesson on this--we were asked to draw a line beginning with our date of birth and then ending with an "end date". We were encouraged to fill in the line with regular milestones (graduating, marriage, job, children, etc). The lesson was (and was echoed in the devotional I read yesterday) that we see things one day at a time and often live from (and for) event to event. God sees the whole shabang at once and He already knows what's going into the timeline, in fact He's already there. It both hurts and comforts my brain to think about this.

So back to my journal...I read for perspective. I read about events/problems/issues, etc. that seemed SO darn important and tragic or heartbreaking at the time and I think NOW, "Wow--I did get through that", or "That wasn't as bad as I thought it was/would turn out to be". I have learned to hold this perspective today when I find myself in the midst of horribleness--a BIG mistake at work ("A year from now, this won't even matter"), sudden, tragic news ("God already knew to permit this into my life so I will get through it with His strength")...

I decided I was going to write about this before I checked Facebook this morning...When I checked FB, I learned of the sudden, horrible accident on the GS Parkway yesterday that took the lives of 4 local high school football players. A FB page was already set up so I started reading through it, many people offering prayers and support to family and friends. One kid wrote, "Who is this God character everyone keeps talking about?" and that made me sad but, in a way, I can see where those who may not have a strong faith would question such a tragedy.

Since I view things like this in "God time", I don't know how great a comfort I am during tragedy. I'm not a "Why, God???" kind of person, no major hysterics or unraveling, but more of an, "Ok...You obviously permitted this, so what do You want me/us to learn from this?" God already had the departure date determined for those 4 boys, it couldn't be stopped, and while their means of moving from this life to the next is tragic, it was by no means a surprise to their Creator. I feel sorrow for the families--I can't even imagine what it would be like to lose a child, and though my simplistic reaction may seem curt, my prayer is that through this tragedy their faith will deepen and somehow they will be able to see that moment in time in God time.