From almost the beginning, man has been out-of-sync with his Creator. Among other things, we have different views of timing.

Humans want things now. Instant gratification. We also want what we want when things get tough. As in, God, please get me out of this right now. Or at least by this afternoon!

Often, though, suffering extends for years. Difficult circumstances just seem to stick like lint on a dark sweater. Wishing it away doesn’t work. Praying becomes exhausting. Anger compounds the problem.

And sometimes, God’s sense of justice takes a lifetime.

This week, retired Israeli General Avigdor Ben-Gal died, at 79. The commander of 7th Armored Corps during the Yom Kippur War and later head of Northern Command, Ben-Gal’s story is like a lot of them in the Jewish state: remarkable.

In 1973, just ahead of a joint (and surprise) Syrian-Egyptian invasion of Israel, Ben-Gal sensed something was up. He prepared his command for attack and counter-attack, and was thus a key reason Israel avoided a disastrous defeat. The story goes that at one point, as Syrian tanks were pouring over the Golan Heights, the Israelis managed to repel 700 enemy tanks with 175 of their own, losing only a few dozen while destroyed hundreds.

Only three years later, Ben-Gal had a hand in planning the famed Entebbe hostage rescue, in which IDF counter-terrorism commandos freed over 100 Jewish hostages being held by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and their Ugandan benefactors. In the documentary, Follow Me, Ben-Gal recounts seeing Col. Jonathan Netanyahu off as the rescue planes started out on the 2,500-mile journey to Africa.

Netanyahu, the oldest brother of current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Ben-Gal, “It’ll be okay.”

I once spoke to a member of the unit that rescued the hostages at Entebbe. He said, “A hundred things had to go right that night. If one had gone wrong, it would have been a disaster.”

The Israelis most needed the element of complete surprise and they had it. I believe a Divine Hand aided them on the 4th of July, 1976, and the human detail and planning of the raid, by people like Ben-Gal, also played a pivotal role.

The raid itself was an astonishing and daring success; going in, the Israeli Cabinet estimated they’d take 40 percent casualties from the 200-man team sent to Uganda. Netanyahu was the only Israeli soldier killed. The rescue force brought 103 of the 105 hostages home to freedom.

So what is my point about Divine Justice, and timing?

Avigdor Ben-Gal was born in Lodz, Poland, in 1936, three years before the Nazi invasion of that country and the start of World War II. His family managed to escape to the Soviet Union, but he and his sister were separated from their parents; the siblings managed to get to Palestine; the parents perished in the death camps of Europe.

So, think about that. I am convinced that God orchestrates everything. Life goes the way it’s supposed to go. Ben Gal survived Hitler’s demonic attempt to wipe out the Jews, and later had a significant role to play in defeating other fiends and enemies of the Jews.

A once-frightened little Polish boy grew to be the man who defended his people on the mountains of Israel, as in the days of old under Joshua and others. This week, Netanyahu called Avigdor Ben-Gal, “One of the greatest commanders Israel has known.”

The Lord of History moves through history, and raises people up, and puts them down. Through the ages, He has raised-up saviors of the Jewish people.

Avigdor Ben Gal was one.

God is in control.

There are no accidents.

Remember that the next time you think you won’t make it.