TOG
07-02-2008, 07:24 PM
When the man from Cush came in to tell King David that he had been delivered from those who rose against him, he asked "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" He was told it was not,
And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went he said, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom my son, my son" 2 Samuel 18:33, ESV
I never really understood this until Monday when I got a call that my son, Peter, just a month shy of his 31st birthday, had been killed in a car accident on his way home from work. I have seen his car and know that he died instantly. A new Ford F-150 veered across the solid line and hit his 15 year old Volvo wagon, left headlight to left headlight. Relative speed between the two vehicles was on the order of 100 mph, and the damage to both vehicles was terrible.
Peter knew the Lord, was very active in his church, and is now in the presence of our Savior.
Question 7 of the Westminster Shorter Chatechism: What are the decrees of God?
Answer: The decrees of God are His eternal purpose according to the counsel of His will, whereby, for His own glory, He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
Or, in modern English:
The decrees of God are His eternal plan based on the purpose of His will, by which, for His own glory, He has foreordained everything that happens.
About 15 years ago Jim Dobson taught me that When God Doesn't Make Sense we need to trust Him anyway -- and only now am I beginning to understand that.
But there was something else -- sometimes the little things escape our notice. A few weeks ago the wife of friends of ours told my wife of a video she had enjoyed and recommended to us, a BBC/PBS multi-session Masterpiece Theater presentation called Wives and Daughters -- essentially a chick-flick set in early Victorian England. We got it through inter-library loan and watched it together, just a week ago.
As the complex plot revolves, the old squire has an argument with his favorite son (about whom the son will marry). The son leaves the manor house and dies along the road from a medical condition. We see the old squire carrying his son back to the manor house, then we see him fall on his face on his bed and howl in anguish. It moved me deeply when I saw it, and the image stayed with me.
God used that to teach me how to deal with my grief, and I have used it more than once.
Like Job, though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
The Old Guy
And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went he said, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom my son, my son" 2 Samuel 18:33, ESV
I never really understood this until Monday when I got a call that my son, Peter, just a month shy of his 31st birthday, had been killed in a car accident on his way home from work. I have seen his car and know that he died instantly. A new Ford F-150 veered across the solid line and hit his 15 year old Volvo wagon, left headlight to left headlight. Relative speed between the two vehicles was on the order of 100 mph, and the damage to both vehicles was terrible.
Peter knew the Lord, was very active in his church, and is now in the presence of our Savior.
Question 7 of the Westminster Shorter Chatechism: What are the decrees of God?
Answer: The decrees of God are His eternal purpose according to the counsel of His will, whereby, for His own glory, He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
Or, in modern English:
The decrees of God are His eternal plan based on the purpose of His will, by which, for His own glory, He has foreordained everything that happens.
About 15 years ago Jim Dobson taught me that When God Doesn't Make Sense we need to trust Him anyway -- and only now am I beginning to understand that.
But there was something else -- sometimes the little things escape our notice. A few weeks ago the wife of friends of ours told my wife of a video she had enjoyed and recommended to us, a BBC/PBS multi-session Masterpiece Theater presentation called Wives and Daughters -- essentially a chick-flick set in early Victorian England. We got it through inter-library loan and watched it together, just a week ago.
As the complex plot revolves, the old squire has an argument with his favorite son (about whom the son will marry). The son leaves the manor house and dies along the road from a medical condition. We see the old squire carrying his son back to the manor house, then we see him fall on his face on his bed and howl in anguish. It moved me deeply when I saw it, and the image stayed with me.
God used that to teach me how to deal with my grief, and I have used it more than once.
Like Job, though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
The Old Guy