Into the Fire

God’s mercy comes in so many ways. Here’s the latest in my life . . .

Friday night in our area we had yet another wind storm, highly unusual to have two of them so close together. This one was worse than the prior one I blogged about in November. As of today, Monday the 18th of December, thousands are still without power in our region, and the temperatures have also dropped to unseasonably cold temperatures. We were without power for only 18+ hours before it was restored, also before the thermometer seriously dropped.

The Lord dropped a tree which took out a 2 foot corner of a gutter and some cross fencing. One or two more feet one way and it would have come through our bedroom at around 2 o’clock in the morning. Skeptics will disagree with my assessment of it being His mercy. Who cares? I know. Two more big trees came down in our front pasture and took out several cross fences, no fence posts, and didn’t break the cross fencing. These trees could easily have fallen across the street that passes in front of our property, but they fell at such an angle as to miss the road–and anyone traveling it. The fenceline should’ve been destroyed. In the back pasture, several large branches came down as well as a tree top but not on any fence line. Our loafing sheds (3-sided shelters for our horses) survived, roofs intact. And our horses remained safe because there would’ve been absolutely nothing we could’ve done to help them in that monster wind.

Just a couple of weeks ago, another tree we were concerned about, which had been a centerpiece of our driveway, came down by the Lord’s merciful hands while we were watching football after church. Ka-thunk. No big crack, no ground shaking clue. Just ka-thunk. Perfectly laid out up the driveway. No one could have brought it down any better. One professional planned to bring it down into our front pasture which would’ve annihilated part of a favorite cherry tree. Anyway, the REAL professional brought it down safely and flawlessly, no damage to the asphalt where the tree branches parked holding the bulk of the tree up so it could be chain-sawed apart, not even touching the cherry tree or any other serious foilage. Utterly amazing. In two hours, we had it all cleaned up.

God is merciful even when we don’t ask, even when we don’t perceive the need, even when we do ask, and always when we don’t deserve it. Yes, we’ve had tragedies, traumas, and terrible things happen to us. However, when the Lord’s mercy is clearly evident to us, and I admit I don’t always see it even though it is new to us everyday, I want to proclaim it and give it the recognition it deserves because I am so grateful for it. So very, very grateful.

Thank you, my Father, for protecting us through the storms of life. Thank you for sustaining us when things are hard for us, even when they’re even harder for others. Who can compute your massive mercy? Who can understand your ways? As much as I desire to, I cannot. I love you, Lord. I need you desperately everyday, every way. Praise your Holy Name. In the Name above all names, the Name of Jesus, Amen.