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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sometimes the person who decides is the person who decides to drive and text or drunk drive. [/quote]

OP here. I guess my point is - why was it THAT child on that waterslide, vs. some other child on the same day or a different day. Same with the boy at Disney. Why THAT boy that day? Even with drunk driving, which car do they hit? Its all so random. When I book a flight, I (fleetingly) think - will a plane crash this day? If so, will it be this one or that? The one time I was in a minor car accident, I was plagued with knowing that I almost drove a different route. Or what if I left 5 minutes earlier? or later?

In Disney, the movie had just ended so the family was probably about to head up anyway. AND they were leaving the next morning! What if they went to bed 5 minutes sooner? Or planned their trip a different week? I just can't even imagine...[/quote]

OP, the thoughts that you are describing are ones that every parent has. It's just a reality of the fact that you have given life to a person who is growing up in front of your eyes, and you are realizing that you cannot protect him/ her forever. This is all perfectly normal. But I will caution you that an obsession with this type of thinking is exactly one of the ways that "evil," if you will, tries to continually attack us.

God speaks very clearly in the Bible about worries, fears and anxiety. As one example, Paul writes

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

Jesus also talks about this in the Sermon on the Mount.

I think it is our responsibility as believers to take hold of this kind of thinking, before it consumes and eventually destroys us. All of these scenarios you described are true. What if these people left earlier, what if that child arrived sooner -- on and on -- you can make yourself crazy about it. What if you had gone to a different grocery store yesterday, or driven route A instead of route B on your way to work? Who knows what differently might have happened. The point is, you cannot consume yourself with this kind of thinking. [b]As a Christian, you take heart that God is in control and is with us through good and bad.[/b] That is why God also tells us to fill our minds with "good thoughts" and beautiful things -- not to obsess over this kind of thinking, which is the work of evil trying to draw you away from Christ.[/quote]

He may be "with us" but what good is he if he only protects us part of the time -- some would say randomly.   A[b]nd what about people who don't even believe in God but seem to lead charmed lives[/b]?  Is God looking after them better than those who believe in him?[/quote]

Well, this is an easy one! I've lived long enough to know that "seem to" is your operative phrase here. You have no idea, truly, what is going on with "those people" and what kinds of issues/ problems, etc. they are struggling with. The Facebook world that we live in does a good job of masking most people's inner lives.

But, in my opinion at least, you are looking at the role of God our Father in a too slanted view. It is not as though we are children, being led around and constantly "protected" by God, as you would take care of your toddler. In God's love, He has given us free choice and with that free choice has come a lot of so-called freedom. With that freedom comes consequences of our actions. If you decide to drink and drive, or even text and drive, and ram into the car in front of you, is it fair to say that God wasn't "protecting" you? Similarly, with the boy on the water slide - it may turn out that someone was negligent in an inspection or in doing their job to keep the ride safe. Unfortunately, there are consequences to that person's failure.

You are going to die, PP. Your kids are going to die. That is one thing I can promise you. I do believe that there are times and conditions in which God absolutely does protect us and save us from our accidents or folly and who is to say why that happens sometimes and not others. That is a bigger question than any of us can answer.  But to think that God's only role is to "protect you" in life is foolish. You are missing the much bigger picture.
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