Our brains are meaning makers. As a friend of mine calls it, our brains are dumb computers. Blinky Brains. They follow code, finding the fastest solution to an “error code.” When something goes wrong in life, we search for the cause. This begins a frustrating cycle of trying to answer the elusive question “why?” What did I do to cause this consequence? Sometimes the pain I experience is the consequence of my actions. I run a red light in front of a cop, I have to pay a ticket. Then our brains try to make meaning to protect ourselves In the future—I will just always make the right decisions, I will be free from pain. If I don’t run the red light, I won’t get the ticket.
But then, life get turned upside down when the pain still makes it’s way to us. And sometimes the reason is, God let this pass thru His hand to us.
Water is cleansing, fresh. Running water pushes away dirt and germs. Water is a surprisingly strong force which erodes—chipping away piece by piece.
Picture your hands under a faucet. Maybe you’re washing after a bathroom break, or maybe you’re cleaning the dishes. You turn on the water, and cup your hands under the tiny river. Even with the tightest of grips, some water is going to spill. What doesn’t get caught up in our hands gets washed down the drain and onto the next place in the water cycle. God’s hands are fully capable of capturing all the metaphorical water. God’s hands are fully capable of protecting us from pain, but what he allows thru his hands has the potential to move us like the Colorado river erodes the walls of the Grand Canyon.
If not for the things that pass thru His hand, would we know the grace of God leading every step? Would we learn to trust Him like a child trusts that Dad knows how to get the car home in a snowstorm? Would we be able to see our tribe of people walking with us thru the muck? God’s allowing of things to pass thru His hand reminds us that this world is a stop along the river, it is not our destination. We are made for something else.
As we go on with our day and this week, I’d encourage you to take the perspective of God’s allowing in your life. As Jesus replied to his disciples as they question why a person had been born blind, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
John 9:2-3 ESV
It had passed thru God’s hands.
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