His Hand Over Our Circumstances
Betsy Hendricks / Preschool and Next Gen Assistant Director
Our backyard is not much to look at. It’s spacious, nicely fenced in, but nothing remotely impressive. The only remarkable feature is a towering walnut tree that houses a two-level tree house and adjacent swing set. This tree gives character to what is otherwise a rather mundane yard.
On New Year’s Day, we woke up to find the fierce winds from the previous night had destroyed our treasured tree. The massive limbs had taken down the tree house, swing set, and part of our fence with them. Our yard was a mangled mess of two-by-fours and branches alike; an absolute war zone. I wasn’t as upset about the damage to the surrounding structures as I was about the loss of that great tree. The other things could be rebuilt. There’s no way to replace a tree that has likely been around since the original owners built our house.
Upon further inspection, my husband found that the fallen limbs were completely rotted out. We were hit hard with the reality that this disaster was not a matter of “if”, but “when.” In that moment, I knew that God had His hand over our circumstances, as He always does. If the wind had gusted from a different direction, the tree would have fallen onto our neighbor’s house. If the limbs had come down when the kids were playing in the tree house … well, a mother can’t let her mind go there.
God’s timing is perfect. No matter the losses we suffer or the injustices we experience, God is still God and He is in control.
“For there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble.” Ecclesiastes 8:6
Our backyard is not much to look at. It’s spacious, nicely fenced in, but nothing remotely impressive. The only remarkable feature is a towering walnut tree that houses a two-level tree house and adjacent swing set. This tree gives character to what is otherwise a rather mundane yard.
On New Year’s Day, we woke up to find the fierce winds from the previous night had destroyed our treasured tree. The massive limbs had taken down the tree house, swing set, and part of our fence with them. Our yard was a mangled mess of two-by-fours and branches alike; an absolute war zone. I wasn’t as upset about the damage to the surrounding structures as I was about the loss of that great tree. The other things could be rebuilt. There’s no way to replace a tree that has likely been around since the original owners built our house.
Upon further inspection, my husband found that the fallen limbs were completely rotted out. We were hit hard with the reality that this disaster was not a matter of “if”, but “when.” In that moment, I knew that God had His hand over our circumstances, as He always does. If the wind had gusted from a different direction, the tree would have fallen onto our neighbor’s house. If the limbs had come down when the kids were playing in the tree house … well, a mother can’t let her mind go there.
God’s timing is perfect. No matter the losses we suffer or the injustices we experience, God is still God and He is in control.
“For there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble.” Ecclesiastes 8:6