I read an article in the news the other day about the Titanic. Two metallurgy experts poured over research for years, studying the materials used to make the hull of the ship. They found that the iron rivets used in the bow and stern were possibly made with inferior metals. Their hypothesis is that when the rivets broke, it put too much stress on the rest of the boat, therefore allowing 6 compartments to be flooded. They think it is likely that if stronger components had been used in construction, maybe only 5 or 4 compartments would have been flooded and the boat would have sunk slower, allowing more people to get off the ship. There is also the possibility that with 4 compartments, they could have limped into port somewhere, saving almost everybody.

You notice in all of the research and conjecture that the words “maybe”,”possibly”, and “likely” are used. Basically, this means that nobody knows for sure why the boat went down. Except … oh yes … they hit an iceberg! It is interesting to me that no matter how well or poorly the ship was built, it was still going down. All we can do in looking back is learn from it and ask the questions that make us better ship builders.

This life is full of “maybes” and “possibilities”, and nothing is for certain. Sometimes this world throws something at us that nothing can stop. I’m not trying to be a downer or a defeatist, but my point is that we sometimes have to bow to superior forces beyond our control and beyond our most stringent safety measures.

What does it all mean? For me, it means that God set this world in motion. God looks over us and protects us but does not control our actions. Therefore, sometimes our actions come in the crosshairs of more powerful forces and then, tragedies occur. We can do our best to prevent them, but we must trust this: God weeps after tragedy and works within us and outside of us to help put the pieces back together.

I’m not sure where these thoughts came from this week. But it gives me comfort that I need not worry about the uncontrollable forces. God did not cause them to hurt us. Sometimes we just cross paths at the wrong time and to unfortunate ends. But what a wonderful, unpredictable, powerful and beautiful world in which we live. Let’s do everything we can to live to the fullest, worry not about what we can’t control and do everything we can to help God fix the broken pieces of this world.

Awesomeness Abounding!

Lee

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