Good morning!
Last Friday evening we were invited to a birthday party at
the home of one of our nieces and nephews who live in the Wichita area. The birthday was for one of their kids, our grandnephew. Although it was warm, their outdoor back patio
was a pleasant, shady spot with a very gentle breeze where we enjoyed the
company of others in the family. We
brought our plates of burgers, salads, and desserts out there to eat and enjoy,
and watched the assorted young ones playing and occasionally having differences
of opinion.
Later in the evening, we were beginning to wrap things
up. My sister and I were sitting next to
each other in patio chairs, with others joining us in a kind of circular
fashion. Sis and I mentioned to each
other that it was about time to leave.
We then visited with our respective spouses and all agreed.
I got up along with Sis and moved toward the back door of
the house along with my wife and her hubby.
I no sooner had gotten to the back door, about 15 seconds after getting
out of my chair, than the huge limb that had been shading that area came crashing
down on the patio. We all were rather
dumbfounded at the event, as the limb appeared to be healthy. There was little to no wind. There would have been no reason for the limb
to have come down.
Once we determined that no one was under the limb and all of
us were OK, some of us took the limb down farther so it would no longer be a
hazard. We tied a rope to it and tugged
on it to get it to come on down all the way.
Before we did that, though, I looked at where Sis and I had been just a
few seconds before it fell. Our chairs
were bent and thrown over backward. We
would have been in the thick of the fallen limb with several large branches
right over our chairs. Had we been in
those chairs, we would not have had time to get out of the way, and we would
both have been in the hospital or worse as a result of the fallen limb.
Several respondents to my Facebook post about this spoke of
God’s work in keeping us safe. Others
simply wished us well and were grateful for our not being hurt. I myself have been thinking about what role
God had to play in this incident, if any.
I must tell you that none of us received any kind of prior warning, whether
physical or spiritual. We received no
premonitions, no visions, no nudging, no feeling of doom…nothing that would
have prompted us to leave when we did.
We’ve done these kinds of gatherings many times before. The conversation about time to leave is a
normal part of how we work things. There
was nothing unusual here in that regard.
Did God somehow prompt us, unbeknownst to us, to get up when
we did? The short answer is, “I don’t
know.” I certainly believe He COULD have
nudged us somehow to leave when we did.
But then it could have been a fortuitous circumstance as well. Bad things do happen to people. Bad things happen to good people. We experience car wrecks and bad storms &
floods. We become ill, sometimes with
terminal conditions such as cancer, ALS, or dementia. We may be hit with depression, anxiety attacks,
or a bad case of ADHD. We fall down a
flight of stairs. We break bones. We are badly burned in a fire accident of
some kind. And yes, limbs and other
things fall on us. If God protects us in
some cases, there are many times when that protection is not there, even for
the most committed and faithful of God’s children.
I am reminded of several things found in the Bible having to
do with this. One of the first was the
plight of the apostles in the book of Acts as the church was being established. Peter, John, Paul and others suffered
mightily at the hands of others. Yes,
there were times when God provided some kind of direct protection. Still, there were other times when they languished
in prison, were beaten, or had some other calamity befall them. If anyone was committed and faithful, the
apostles were.
Then there were the prophets of the Old Testament who suffered
greatly because they had the courage to speak the message of God to the
people. Yes, God at times protected them
as well. But there were many times when
that protection wasn’t there and there was some great suffering that took
place.
I am also reminded of the incident Jesus told about the
Tower of Siloam falling on some people.
Jesus asked the question of whether these people were worse sinners than
others because this happened to them. He
emphatically said that was NOT the case.
Now, I realize the context and point of the story isn’t about bad things
happening to good people, but the point I made is there.
So, the question remains whether God provided protection for
us against the fallen limb. And that question
will continue to remain, because I just don’t know.
I WILL say that I am grateful for being spared, however it
happened. I am thankful that I didn’t
end up in the hospital or funeral home.
I cherish life and living, however many hours and days I may have left. I know that some time in the future, be that
near or far away, my body will cease to function. I don’t know if that will happen because of
illness, trauma, or just old age. But I
do know, as the song says, “Who holds tomorrow; and I know Who holds my hand.”
Blessings.
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