I recently discussed the wildfires currently raging in Canada and how, by no fault of our own, the poor air quality and haze created thereby ended up affecting us in America, sometimes severely (worst air quality ever recorded in some cities, etc.), and what a great illustration it is in terms of how the sins or dysfunction or issues of others are indeed and literally contagious, in every sense of the word, how those tend to “drift” from their lives into ours if we’re not careful, if we’re not aware, if we’re not properly protected.  Here are two more takeaways.

Firstly, it is absolutely imperative that, along with properly protecting ourselves from the would-be influence of other people’s issues or sins on and into our own life, we are even more diligent to ensure that we’re not the culprit, that we’re not the person who spews issues or sin into the lives of others, since such would seem to be the very definition of a “stumbling block”.

• “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.  Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks!  For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; nevertheless, woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!” (Matthew 18:6-7)

Secondly, it’s important to keep in mind that even something so sick or sinister as the sins or issues of others seeking to “drift” into and “infect” our own life, even that will be used by God for our GOOD.

• “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

A great example of this occurred in my own life just two days ago, the day after I published the previous post.  I had an event to attend which was scheduled three months ago, and I usually would have walked or ridden my bike but because those Canadian wildfires caused a “Code Red” (unhealthy, even dangerous) air quality reading for that very day, I decided to take the Metro instead, something I rarely do.

But here’s the thing, here’s the thought that hit me:  it’s very possible, it would be in the very center of how God often works, if a car or truck or bus would’ve hit me if I had been biking or walking instead of taking a subway train.  In other words, it’s very possible that a vehicle would veer into the bike lane or onto the sidewalk exactly at the time and place of where I would have been but for the “Code Red” air quality caused by those Canadian wildfires, which God certainly allowed to occur.

This is exactly how He almost always opts to intervene in our daily lives.  Not via a direct stretching forth of His hand from Heaven but rather through events or circumstances or other people.  (How amazing – and real – is His sovereignty… as I often say, “Things big or small, He’s in control of all!”  And one of my very favorite things in life is to be used by Him to function as His hand or finger in various situations, to impact and improve and benefit and bring blessing to the lives of others.)

Another example of this also from just the past week was when the grocery store nearest to me was out of a certain item and I was going to walk to the third-closest one since it’s very large and thus well-stocked, but I had already walked and exercised a lot the past few days so I decided to instead go to the second-closest store, which was around a mile out of the way, off the route to the larger store so I was fully aware I was taking a chance since that one is very small and whenever I go there only has around half of the items on my grocery list.  Worth the gamble but it was not surprising to find that it didn’t have that particular item in stock so I headed to the third store which, also unsurprisingly, did  have it in stock.  But here’s the thing:  while walking to the third store I saw several ambulances and police cars two blocks away, which is EXACTLY where I would have been walking had I not already exercised so much this week and thus took the chance and chose to check out the second, smaller store.  And not only were those ambulances EXACTLY where I would’ve been walking, but it obviously took them five or ten minutes to arrive on the scene, which means that the timeframe could also line up perfectly, i.e., the big accident could very, very, very easily have happened to me BUT FOR God’s sovereign and loving intervention into my life via the circumstances of (1) that the nearest store was out of the item, (2) that I had already exercised a TON this week and therefore (3) opted to head to the second-closest but much smaller store versus what I would’ve otherwise  done:  just walked the longer distance to store #3, which would’ve put me at the exact place of that big accident and very possibly at the exact time  of the accident, too.

I see God’s sovereignty and tangible interventions into my life often.  My favorite example occurred many years ago, when I was driving on the GW (George Washington) Parkway one Friday night for a Super Bowl weekend getaway and out of nowhere I notice a car in front of me, braking, slowing down dramatically which caused me to do likewise, costing me five seconds of time, no biggie, right?  WRONG!  Because, bizarrely, that car in front of me then sped away extremely quickly, at a noticeably fast speed and just as I was thinking how strange it was that someone would brake suddenly and then speed ahead so quickly, a huge tree fell into the road, missing my car by – yep, you guessed it – FIVE SECONDS.

That car’s braking cost me five seconds of time but saved my life or extreme, quality-of-life-ending injury at the very least.

Was that car actually a guardian angel?  Very possibly.  Was it a driver who wanted to catch a glimpse of the “scenic overlook” to the right for a few seconds before speeding back up?  Probably.  But in either case it’s a perfect example of how God in HIs loving sovereignty intervenes in our day-to-day lives.  Sometimes in big and dramatic and life-saving ways, usually smaller, but never mundane.  Sometimes unknown/unaware, but never unappreciated.

This is why, this is one way we’re able to fulfill I Thessalonians 5:18.

• “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

In summary, as stated in that initial post (two ago), it’s crucial that we be responsible in properly protecting ourselves from the sins or issues of others which otherwise would “drift into” our lives just like the smoky haze and dangerously poor air quality has drifted from the Canadian wildfires into America.  But it’s equally crucial not to resent or hate people who propel their personal problems onto and into the lives of others (versus resolving  them) but rather to be sympathetic (1 Peter 3:8) and compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient (Colossians 3:12) toward them and most of all thankful toward God, that He has provided us protection against such things (Ephesians 6:10-20) and that in His loving sovereignty He will cause even things like that to work together for our GOOD (Romans 8:28).  What a great God we serve!
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