A few weeks ago our neighbor’s house was struck by lightning and caught fire. After being startled awake by the biggest, booming crack of thunder, and then drifting back to sleep for a few minutes, my dog Rose went to the door and began whining. I got up sleepily and went to let her out, when I saw the neighbor’s house in a full blazing fire. It was shocking! They lost it all.
Am I blessed it wasn’t our house and they aren’t? Am I lucky and they weren’t?
I worked all day today. I got home and Tom told me the wind was crazy! He showed me a picture of a car at the laundromat in Gentry — the laundromat I was at TWICE the past few days — that got smashed by a tree that was blown over. The car was parked in the exact same place I parked!
Was I blessed! But not them? Did I just get lucky? But they didn’t?
Some people get sick. Some get well. And some don’t. Is one more blessed?
Some people work hard but still struggle to make ends meet. And some people vacation five times a year. Does one have more blessings to count?
I think Solomon had it correct. “Time and chance happen to them all.” But if I’m not careful, I begin to feel like life is a crapshoot. Random. A little karma-ish. But then I call to mind what three men said to a king in the face of flames.
“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace the God we serve is able to deliver us from it. BUT EVEN IF HE DOES NOT, we want you to know, we will not serve your gods.” Daniel 3:17-18
I just discovered a song by Mercy Me. Take the time to listen to it! “Even If ” sums up exactly how I’m feeling.
“I know you’re able
And I know you can
Save through the fire
With your mighty hand
BUT EVEN IF YOU DON’T
My hope is you alone.
I know the sorrow
And I know the hurt
Would all go away
If you’d just say the word
BUT EVEN IF YOU DON’T
My hope is you alone.”
Through all the good and the bad. When He does or doesn’t. If He says the word or remains silent. We ARE blessed. We are blessed because He is our great hope. And because of that, we can say, it is well with our souls.
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