Child in a Hot Car

It happens several times every year.  A screaming mother or guardian, a dead child in a hot automobile.  Never intending to harm the child, the adult has become distracted, rushing around, and has forgotten that the child is locked in the automobile, windows up, in the hot sun.

In the closed system of the locked car, the internal temperature in the passenger cabin can rapidly soar to 120 - 130 F ( ).  The child dies of a heat stroke.  The adult, of course, feels massive guilt and may, in some jurisdictions, face criminal charges.

People are incredulous that anyone could forget that they had left their child in a hot car.  Some make very harsh and unkind statements and a few predictably, become “holy” and "forgiving." They may say that no one knows what pressures the mother was feeling, no one knows what was on her mind, no one was “walking in her shoes.”  Then they misapply Scripture.  “Judge not that you be not judged.”

The admonition against judging others applies to hypocrisy and also to a tendency among some to pride themselves in their own holiness.  It does not mean that we are not to have opinions and it does not mean that people should not be held responsible for the consequences of their actions, even their unintentional actions.  The legal systems in the areas in which these incidents occur should be followed.  The judgements of the legal systems should be accepted.

The people who call for "understanding" do have a point.  No normal person would intentionally harm their own child.  There are extenuating circumstances and pressures on people which can cause them to exhibit "tunnel vision," seeing only the thing directly in front of them and forgetting other, more important, responsibilities.  The thing we must remember, however, is that we still bear individual personal responsibility for our actions.

Just as it is imperative for Christians to keep their eyes on God, it is also crucial for us to keep our eyes on our children (and also our elderly and others who may not be able to care for themselves).  We have been told that if anything distracts us from God, we should cut it out of our lives.  This is also a good principle for us to follow concerning those under our care. 

Book Comment: Trusting God Even When Life Hurts

In Trusting God Even When Life Hurts (NavPress, 1988), Jerry Bridges makes some very startling assertions.  All of them are biblically sound and all of them are true.

Basically, Bridges’ point is that God can be trusted because of His absolute sovereignty in every instance, in every moment, in every detail, no matter how small.  Bridges quotes hundreds of verses of scripture which make the point that God has absolute control over who is in political power and over the decisions which they make.  He is in control of the weather, including tornadoes and tsunamis.  He is in control of illness and disease.  He is in control of the forces which hold a molecule together and which move gibberellins through a plant.  (Matthew 10:29)

God uses His people and also people who utterly reject Him; everyone serves His plan, which He established at the moment of Creation.  All things move as God purposes and everything works together (even bad things and bad people) for the good of those who love the Lord.  That is what the Bible says.  We do not always understand how that could be so.

Pastor bridges in his book is very careful to stress that God's sovereignty does not obviate human responsibility.  We are not God's puppets or chess pieces, but are free moral agents who are held accountable for our decisions and actions.  As the Bible declares "... they have no excuse."   (Romans 1:20)

Some Christians believe as does Rabbi Harold Kushner that God is loving but not all powerful. Kushner challenges the idea of the omnipotence of God.  God grieves with us over bad things which happen but is unable to do anything.  This is nothing more than Deism; a God who creates the world and then essentially walks away.

 Jesus in Matthew 10:29-31 declared that God is able and willing to sustain us and bring good to His people.  He can use miracles or other people (good or bad), or situations and events (good or bad) to work out everything to our good.