When Things Go Wrong

Have you ever had things go wrong?  It is likely there have been occasions today unexpected things happened you wish could have been avoided.  For instance, today I investigated why the printer was producing folded pages.  I could see paper dust residue inside the printer, so I figured it would be better to vacuum it out rather than make the dust airborne in the house with compressed air.  What I did not notice was a sizeable foam insert only after it was immediately sucked into the vacuum!  I was grateful I had just changed the bag so the part was easy to remove and replace into the printer--after sopping up ink it had absorbed that was all over my hands.  You know, things like that. :)

My mind flitted back to years ago when I had organised a pour of concrete at my house.  I put in the hard yards with my dad setting forms, laying down steel mesh, paid for the concrete and managed labour.  And then the night before the pour I came down with the flu or had food poisoning.  I was disappointed to be sick and wasn't able to contribute on the day like I planned on doing.  God was gracious in providing the skilled labour necessary to pour and finish the concrete, which are skills I do not possess anyway.  I can think of other times where things went wrong and there was no immediate good I could point to that came from it, even though I am convinced God caused it to work for good.

The wonderous thing is the almighty God I know and love has never had the experience of anything ever going wrong.  There has never been an occasion something unexpected and bad happened He was unaware of and incapable of redeeming.  Even saying something has "gone wrong" exposes our misguided expectations, our ignorance of knowing what was coming and what God is planning.  When Jesus was crucified on the cross, His disciples were dismayed and totally shattered even though He told them beforehand it would come to pass.  Peter later wrote to believers who suffered persecution for their faith in 1 Peter 4:12-13, "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; ¹³ but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."  By design God would bring unexpected fiery trials His people's way they were by faith in Him to welcome into their lives like offering hospitality to a stranger into their home, and in the midst of their present suffering they could rejoice in a glorious future with their risen LORD and Saviour Jesus.

In this world things will go wrong and sometimes very wrong.  This results in all sorts of troubles with added inconvenience, extra work, needing to reschedule appointments, increased expense, feelings of embarrassment, physical pain, going without something important, needing to organise rides or to humble ourselves and apologise.  The list of our unexpected problems and difficulties is truly endless.  When things go wrong for us, we can rest assured nothing has gone wrong for God.  Our unexpected calamity, boneheaded decision or weakness does not prevent Him from accomplishing His good plans and tests us in the meantime, to see if we will trust Him or not.  Our fleshly responses when things go wrong may provide some of the clearest, best insights into aspects of our character God desires us to repent of as sinful and be more like Him today and moving forward.