Insomnia and the Brevity of Life:

It’s 2:30 and I’m tired... or am I? I can’t make up my mind whether I want to sleep or not. It’s funny... I’ve never been posed with this quandary before... or have I? Whatever the case is, I’m awake and I’m not sure I want to be, but when I close my eye to sleep, I’m not sure I want to do that either. How fickle of a mood is that?

Being awake, I hopped onto one of the various instant message services that I subscribe to only to find an old college acquaintance. Not a good friend or someone that I had a great deal of contact with, but an old mutual friend of a friend. After exchanging pleasantries, I discovered that their brother had just passed in a freak car accident. There isn’t much that one can say that hasn’t already been said a million times over...

The funny thing was that their comment about the entire thing was this: “I guess it was just meant to be... God must have wanted him.” I had to stop a moment and think.

Late last night, I received an e-mail from another friend informing me of God’s hand at work protecting her in a car accident that she and her sister were just in that night. Without going into detail, the entire situation could have been graphically worse than the trophy bumps, bruises, and headaches which consisted of the physical damage done. As I read that e-mail, my heart sank, but I was overwhelmed by a great sense of relief and thankfulness when all was said, done, and the outcome could only glorify God.

Here is a bigger quandary: Did God want my friend to live, but my other friend’s brother to die?

First off, that isn’t a fair question. Each one has its own set of miracles and provisions. Our world is broken and doesn’t always play by the rules. People, good people, get terrible sicknesses and die while malignant intentions rise to heights of human glory. The writers of the Psalms griped about this time and time again... I think I do too on a regular basis. But that’s a different story and all for God to vindicate.

But if we flip this around in these situation, we could see an imbalance in God providing that my friend’s brother didn’t suffer in his accident, but I get bet I know two Canadian girls who are still feeling a bit banged up from the broadside. However, switching to a more optimistic viewpoint, I am relieved that my friend’s brother didn’t have to suffer, but that he was taken quickly AND the girls were NOT pummeled into oncoming traffic/ that we wouldn’t have to meet under the pretenses of a funeral.

I like to look at stuff like this through the eyes of Job, a man who had everything, then had nothing and then some. He said, “Shouldn’t we thank God for both the good and the bad that happen to us. Is He still not Lord and God over all?”

Life is short. Don’t waste it on pettiness. Take time to smile and make eye contact with people. Yeah, it may feel odd, but what if that simple gesture of joy is the hope for tomorrow that someone needs to see?

Now I must ask.... should I be sleeping now?