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"You did your best," replied Dan, clamping his hand on Adam's
shoulder. "Nobody who could see you like this would doubt it," he added,
referring to Adam's smoldered appearance.
Saturday morning found Adam in a hospital bed at Twin Yucca Community Hospital. When
he woke up from his drug induced sleep, Adam discovered Charlton gravely sitting
beside the hospital bed, a folded newspaper in his lap.
"You're on the front page," announced Charlton, his voice strangely different.
Adam sat up, suddenly wincing in pain. He looked at his hands-- both of which were
wrapped in white bandages. He soon found that both knees and part of his right leg
were also bandaged.
"How do you feel?" asked Charlton.
"It's as painful as all the pain I've ever had," replied Adam, candidly,
who up to now, had been hoping it was all a bad dream.
"Still believe God's fair?" asked Charlton, a twinge of sarcasm in his
voice. "I heard you couldn't save the passenger," he continued, referring
to the newspaper.
"Yes, I do," replied Adam, trying to keep back the tears. Charlton looked
at him in surprise.
"How can you still say that? One of the girls died because you couldn't save
her!" asked Charlton, incredulously.
Adam shook his head. Everything screamed failure. All Adam had left to stand on was
God's Word. Then the Spirit reminded him of Jeremiah eighteen and Daniel four.
"O house of Israel," quoted Adam, taking comfort in every word, "cannot
I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's
hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel." And, "All the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army
of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or
say unto Him, What doest Thou?" finished Adam, who up to that moment, had been
tempted with thoughts of failure, himself.
"But," stammered Charlton, "it all happened for nothing. You got burned
and the girl died!"
"One girl lived," reminded Adam, regaining his spiritual equilibrium. "I
don't know how, but it will work to my good. God has promised, 'We know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose.' I don't know why He let the other girl die. God could easily have
kept the flames from even coming near us, but He didn't. He had some purpose... some
reason for all of this. I cannot believe otherwise!"
As Adam looked up from his little speech, he noticed Charlton was hunched over the
hospital bed, his face buried in Adam's blanket. The Holy Spirit had convicted Charlton
of sin, and Charlton could resist HIM no longer. Ever since Charlton had first heard
the news of the accident, he could not get it out of his mind, for the young girl
who perished in the fire was Charlotte's age. It could easily have been his own cherished
daughter! But it wasn't Charlotte, it was not his sweet Charlie, oh, dear God, it
was NOT! She meant more to him than anything else in this world. The danger of his
hatred toward God, that he could have forced the hand of God's punishment to take
away Charlotte from him-- not just sending her away as he, himself, had unjustly
done-- but taking Charlotte away FOREVER. This danger suddenly burst through the
darkness of his heart like the first rays of morning. Charlton had called God unfair
while Adam had pronounced Him just-- even though the plumber's pain and grief were
great. Now Charlton saw himself as the unfair and unjust one! |
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