Most of us learned while in school the elements that makes up water. The “H” is for the element hydrogen. The “O” is of course for oxygen. Two parts of the “H” and one part of the “O”.
Water.
We can’t survive without it. It makes up a large percentage of our body composition and over two thirds of the world is covered by it. It is one of only a handful of compounds that expands (grows larger) when turning to a solid state (the reason pipes break when frozen). And water can kill us if we don’t know how to swim in it.
It strikes me as odd that such a vital, life-giving and valuable compound could be comprised of two very different elements. First, hydrogen, the dangerous, gassy substance found in abundance on the uninhabitable planet Mars and also used to create thermonuclear bombs. Not the kind of stuff we’d like to drink in on a hot day after mowing the lawn. And the second, oxygen, the pure, clean, required-for-life element that we breathe in its purest form when recovering from a physical trauma.
How is it that two such polarizing elements be shaped and formed into such a critical, good compound such as water?
It reminds me of an often quoted verse, Romans 8:28 which says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
And God does often make use of the bad to develop in us the better. He uses challenges, trials, hurts and pain to move us closer to the character of Jesus. When you take a good thing (God) mixed with a “bad” thing (tough situations) it turns into a good and useful thing. We are better and stronger than ever before.
Hydrogen and oxygen, your troubles and God, mixed together to create the most unique, life sustaining element; creativity that only a loving God could imagine.
Richard Bahr 