A number of years ago some teenagers from a local school were killed in a tramping tragedy. The rains came and the swollen river floated them away. One cried out to Jesus and he is saved but others are washed away. Presumably, they are praying too, wanting to be rescued but they die.

The parents gather around and wonder why one child is saved another is lost. Outside the theologians defend the sovereignty of God and console themselves with the mystery of Gods plan for the accident. Some people look at the tragedy and think God can’t look after his own so he’s either powerless or if he is powerful, maybe not as loving as we think he is. We are better to admit that God is loving and powerful but there are mysteries when it comes to tragedy in His people lives.

A man called Helmet Thielecke says “When you look through a magnifying glass at the cloth, the fabric is sharply in focus in the centre and blurred at the edges. We know edges are really ok because we have seen the centre. Life is like that too. There are many edges that are blurred but because we have seen the centre, the cross, that greatest demonstration of God’s love, we can accept that the edges we don’t understand will be woven by Gods love too.

Friend, we can understand God enough to trust his character when we can’t understand our circumstances