We gather with a group of families once a month to talk, eat, and worship—in that order. Last Friday, I began preparing vegetables in ginger sauce to bring for the dinner. The children were pattering about. Greg was on Google Earth showing our farm to one kiddo. I was bent over the stove.

I’ve never used a glass 9 x 13 pan on the cooktop before, but it seemed to make sense this time. The dish had withstood a lot of abuse over the past ten years. I use it all the time in the oven at 400+ degrees. Why not heat it in the dish that I would bring it in?

The vegetables were frozen, and to make up time, I turned the temperature up on the stovetop. A few minutes went by while I stirred to prevent sticking.

Then like a gunshot, the glass pan exploded into millions of pieces. (The temperature was not evenly distributed.) Tiny shards of glass covered my hands, hair, and clothes. I looked around to see if any children were hurt, but after that, I just stood there in shock. The burner kept cooking the vegetables and glass.

This isn’t the only time I’ve been saved from my stupidity. I’ve done a lot of dumb things. The problem is that I don’t learn my lessons very well. While I probably will never again cook with glass on the stove (don’t hold me to it, I’m dumb, remember), the lesson that I will miss, I’m afraid, is far more serious.

The lesson is this. God holds all things in His hand. The glass pan? It belongs to Him. That’s why my eyesight was saved, and there is not a cut on my body. God is sovereign. I owe him my thanks not because he saved me in this instance but because He is able to save. He is God. This is the mystery Job alluded to when he said, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” (Job 13:15) Not a hair or shard of glass falls to the ground unnoticed by God.

God’s choosing to save is a mystery. But our hope is well placed in Him.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Daniel 3:16-18