Horrifying. But what if…?

While selecting the music for next Sunday’s service, a brother emailed me, “Could you please help me choose songs that match the Bible reading? I find the story quite confusing.” The story is indeed confusing, if not horrifying. David wants to bring the ark to Jerusalem. But the oxen that pull the cart carrying the Ark stumble. Uzzah reaches out and touches the Ark. He dies on the spot. I wonder. What if Uzza hadn’t intervened? What if the Ark was broken? What if God Himself came into this world and was crucified and died? What if God allows a pandemic to destroy public worship? Such a thing would be terrible. But can we also learn something from it?