God's Protection?

A modern Western leader was widely hailed as God's instrument in his country. He had brought a new level of economic prosperity, created unity where there had been near chaos, and was credited by many for improving the moral climate if the citizenry. A group of conspirators--some motivated by religious zealotry, mounted an assassination attempt. The ensuing bomb blast killed some of those nearby, and even reduced the leader's trousers to tatters, resembling a hula-skirt. The leader gave credit to God. "God has preserved me!" He and his allies considered it a statement from the Allmighty that Heaven approved of the administration's policies. This "Divine protection" became the political leverage used to push along their agenda.

The leader of whom I speak is Adolf Hitler. The Valkyrie plot was but one of many attempts on the Fuhrer's life. His survival of the bomb blast in his Wolf's Lair Prussian military stronghold is indeed remarkable. If the meeting had taken place in the bunker where it was originally scheduled, if the table had been of a different design, if the briefcase bomb had not been placed in, or moved to a spot behind the massive supports of the table, plus a thousand other "if"s had not been exactly as they were, Hitler would have died.

So, is this any more than an interesting, ironic twist of history?

Yes, there is a powerful lesson. The collective teaching of scripture would clearly indicate that God was in control July 20, 1944, as well as July 27, 2011. The Fuhrer's conclusions, though, based on his reading of what happened, were entirely wrong. God was most definitely not on the side of the Third Reich. I have a definitive answer as to why God allowed Hitler to live that day--a survival that led to the death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and many people of excellent character. "I don't know." Often my quick and easy conclusions based on my observations of God's sovereign actions are just as faulty as those of the leader who had his pants blown off.

I've been learning recently from Job that my job is not so much to figure out, as it is to trust.

It's STTA.