Omnipotently Omniscient

Acts 26:32  "This man [Paul] could have been set free if he had not appealed to Ceasar."

To know how close Paul was to freedom is hard to take in.  To not understand why God did not want to continue using Paul is impossible not to think about.  How many more lives could he have swayed and saved?  How many more churches could he have planted?  How much more encouragement and clarity could he have brought in writing letters to new believers of the Way?  And yet he said exactly what God knew he would say, leading him one step closer to his death sentence.  We see written how omitting one single solidary sentence, "I appeal to Ceasar," would have prevented him from all of that.
Once again I am humbled by my inability to understand the "why" to a situation or circumstance in life.  Humbled because my question, "why," helps me remain within the mindset that I am not God, that I do not understand everything that happens in life, nor will I ever this side of heaven.  I am humbled because God is bigger (more powerful) than I and He knows more than I do- He knows everything; therefore He knows what is best, for everyone at every moment.

My best friend dying of cancer at 28 years of age and leaving behind her 18 month old and a husband of 4 years (three of those she batle a very agressive stage 4 cancer).  An incredible christian man who was impacting lives and influencing a church, and beginning to lead his family spiritually like he never had before died in a tragic accident leaving behind his wife and three kids (one of them, his daughter, I had mentored for over a year and who called me the night of the accident to come and be with her at the hospital).  As a result, his death unwillingly forced them to move out of state, out of their home, away from their neighbors and church that they dearly loved.

~~  This was my quiet time this morning.  I read chapters 25 & 26 and verse 32 of chapter 26 jumped out at me.  What I wrote above was in response to my reading of the Word this morning.  It was cut short by my five little children waking up to get ready for church.  So I left for worship with this gentle or not so gentle truth resting on my thoughts.  And it was there, in worship, that God held me in my humility and comforted me in the midst of my hurting heart for all the "why's" that I've had to watch loved ones live through.  It was in a song, the lyrics of a song that He spoke lovingly to me.  Graciously reminding me that He is NOT only omnipotently (all powerfully) omniscient (all-knowing) but that He is also omnipresent (everywhere all the time).  He is right here with me.  Just like he is right with all those people in the midst of their pain, their grief, their heart ache, and their loss.  He is with them.  And that is enough.  Here is the song: