On a Thursday afternoon in December 2005, I received a phone call informing me that a friend from high school was killed in a car accident. I couldn’t control the tears- they seemed to naturally flow from my eyes for hours. My heart was heavy. It just didn’t seem right for someone so young and so full of life to be taken.
That same night I went to our weekly FCA gathering on campus where a man named Gray Forrester was speaking. I didn’t really feel up to going that night, as my eyes were swollen and red from crying all afternoon, but the Lord had a message He wanted me to hear. I will be honest; I do not remember everything that Mr. Forrester spoke about, but I do clearly remember four words that I have held onto ever since: “God never says oops.” It finally clicked! God never wishes that He could rewind time and change the way things pan out. He knows- He has always known! He has purposed every minute of every day of all that goes on everywhere in His whole wide world. He is God. He is good.
When circumstances in life occur, in mine or someone else’s, I am the first to say, “everything happens for a reason.” Until that night, however, there was no root to that phrase. I didn’t really understand that God is truly in control over all things, and whether we perceive them to be good or bad, He is in control. I saw the Lord in a new way, as He revealed to me a glimpse of His power and His glory.
Little did I know how deeply I would carry that message with me throughout the rest of that school year, in particular. Not much later, a close high school teacher died after battling cancer, my Bible study leader (also my sister’s best friend) was killed in a car accident, and one of my best friend’s dad’s was diagnosed with ALS, and is now with our Lord. Oh, what do we cling to and how do we find peace apart from knowing that the Lover of our souls is in control of this life that is fleeting.
That night at FCA I felt as though the Lord was speaking right at me. What an impact that made on my walk with Him, and the way I view all of life’s happenings. I forgot to mention, as we closed FCA out that night we sang “It Is Well with My Soul.” Isn’t God amazing?!
(The above picture of the cross was taken from:
