Image by Pete Linforth
Some years ago an important decision faced me. Three options, like three identical doors, stood in my path. Each offered a benefit; each came with a drawback. And whichever I chose had long-range, life-altering consequences.I’d walked with God long enough to know that I could trust him to direct me in the path that was best, so I offered up my choices to him and thanked him in advance for whatever decision he made for me. Circumstances were such that one path lie open for the taking, no barrier in front of it. The other two required a request, either or both of which would likely be denied, as many people sought to take those two paths, and only a few empty positions waited. So I put in my appeals for the two paths that had wickets before them, and I waited to see which door God would open to me.Both requests were granted, and all three doors swung wide open in front of me.I was angry.“All my life you’ve asked me to trust and obey you,” I complained to God. “I genuinely, sincerely, with no reservations gave my path up to you to direct, and look what you’ve done in return! Nothing!”Heaven did not reply.I got no guidance or counsel, and I had to choose for myself which path to take.Two years later disaster struck on that road. I could not have foreseen it; I could not have prepared for it; it was the most painful and horrific thing I’d experienced in my life thus far.“I’ve made a terrible decision,” I mourned. “What have I done?”I accused God. “Why did you let me go that way? I trusted you! I asked you! I sought your will and you ignored me!”I retraced my steps and went back to investigate the other paths. Maybe it wasn’t too late to alter my way. Maybe something could be salvaged of the situation, and this treasure I held so dear, which was threatened even to death, could be brought back to safety and sanity in some different environment.But my interviews regarding the paths-not-taken revealed that the same disaster had struck others who took those paths as well. The three situations were equally dark and overshadowed by an evil I couldn’t have imagined.This thing would’ve happened no matter which path I’d taken.An evil had stationed itself in my way, waiting to devour, and I couldn’t have avoided it.The problem of pain is a real one that philosophers and theologians have pondered for millenia. Why does a good God allow bad things, even in the lives of people who are as blameless as Job? The answer Job received was, “Are you God?” to which Job wisely answered, “No.”Unlike Job, I am not blameless and I have not followed God perfectly. But like Job, the thing that assaulted me came straight from the hand of Satan.And though I know little about the higher things of God, this I do know: What Satan means for destruction God will turn into deliverance, if we get out of the way and let him have his.There is a purpose of God in what he allowed to come to me, either for my individual sanctification, or for his kingdom purposes, or both. His silence when I asked for direction, and his sovereignty in opening all three doors at once, did not come out of indifference or cruelty, but out of his deep, unfailing kindness. Because with the clarity of hindsight I can hear exactly what he said in answer to my prayers for guidance:I am guiding you. What is coming is not your fault, and not because of your choice or your error.And I will carry you through it, because I know you trust me.Then Job replied to the LORD:“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know… My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” (Job 42: 1-5)
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