Safe and Secure

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Proverbs 18:10

 

 

Last week, Ken sent his driver to pay our power bill.  Timely bills are infrequent here, so it's wise to pay on the same day each month, even if you've not received a statement.  Otherwise, the power company will take great pleasure in disconnecting you without notice, at which point they'll also add a hefty reconnection charge.  Anyway, our driver wasn't able to pay the power company that day.  Their office had no power. 

 

Two days later, as we drove down the road, Ken and I came across an unusual sight.  An ambulance had broken down, and the driver was sitting comfortably under a tree next to it.  He didn't seem to have a care in the world.  I chuckled as we drove by, and then prayed that there wasn't a patient in the vehicle!

 

That same day, I noticed that there was no water in the washroom adjacent to my office.  Soon after I reported the problem, one of our young janitors arrived, entered the washroom, banged around a bit, removed a valve on the wall, put his hand over the hole, and soon had water gushing forth and hitting the opposite wall.  I don't know what he did, but it sure worked.

 

Yesterday I stayed home to get caught up on some chores.  Suddenly, there was a loud pounding on our front door.  When I answered, one of our groundsmen (who speaks very little English) was wildly flapping his arms and yelling, "Fire!  Fire!"  He turned and ran up the hill, where several boys were frantically dashing about with buckets and fire extinguishers.  I grabbed my phone and followed.  As I ran, I called Ken and told him to get here as quickly as possible. 

When I got to the top of the hill, I saw that all three of the electrical distribution boxes on our compound were in flames.  Our Territorial Youth Secretary, who worked as an electrician before becoming an officer, happened to be home, and I have to say that it was his quick thinking that saved our lives.  He knew that our new generator had just been fuelled, and so he and another young man ran across the compound to turn it off.  The young man he was with touched the metal door of the generator house and was thrown back to the ground.  But by using a wooden stick, they were able to get into the building and turn off the generator before it exploded.

 

 

 

Just then, Ken drove through the gate.  He had stopped along the way to fetch the fire brigade, which duly responded.  Unfortunately, though, the truck had broken down on the way to our compound.

 

Once we got the fires out, we surveyed the damage, and we thanked God that no one had been killed.  Ken led us all in a prayer of thanks, and then he took the young man who had been electrocuted to our local clinic.  Fortunately, his injuries were not serious, and he was treated and released a few hours later.  Thank Heaven. 

It's really all the same story, isn't it?  The power company, the ambulance, the fire brigade.  Even our electrical supply and plumbing.  It's all systems.  Systems that can so easily fail us, and that often do.

It's a good thing that, as Christians, our sense of security does not rely on systems.  It's not dependent upon technology, or people, or even luck.  It comes solely from faith.  I've learned this week that we are safe not because of the absence of danger, but because of the presence of God. 

 

 

 

It's Not Fair

It is he who saved us and chose us for his holy work, not because we deserved it,
 but because that was his plan long before the world began—to show his love and kindness to us through Christ.
2 Timothy 1:9

Ken walked in just as I was sweeping off the pile of bugs that had accumulated overnight on our dining room table.  He started to say something, but I gave him "the look."  You know, the one that only a wife can give.  The one that gently suggests it would be best not to say anything.  He caught himself, lowered his head with a smile, gave me a quick kiss, and headed off to work.  He knew that I was feeling a bit sorry for myself because of the long day of chores that lay ahead, and wise man that he is, he decided that a conversation would likely be counter-productive.

Driving to the market the next day, I saw some other women doing their chores.  Bending low from the hip, they were sweeping the mud outside their shops with tree branches, attempting to make their little businesses more inviting to customers.  My heart broke, and I chided myself for my self-pity.  I had nothing to complain about.

The following Sunday, while on our way to open the 400th corps in the Territory, Ken and I saw a young girl lying on the road ahead.  We told our driver to stop, and we jumped out to see what had happened.  I'm sure that we were quite a sight, running back down the road in our white uniforms.  A few people saw us, and a small crowd started to gather.  Ken cautiously touched the girl on the shoulder, and though she didn't seem to be hurt, she was clearly very weak.  Ken and a few men took her to the side of the road, where we discovered that she had no money and had not eaten for some time.  Ken quickly told the men to take her to a little café that was at the side of the road, and he gave her enough money to eat three full meals that day.

As we drove off a few minutes later, I looked back and was relieved to see the men, to whom Ken had also given some money for breakfast, patiently escorting her into the restaurant.  I whispered a silent prayer, and I thought again about how unfair life can be.  Why does it seem to be so easy for some and so hard for others?  It's a question that often haunts me here.

When we arrived at our destination, Ken and I were whisked away for a full day of celebration.  There was singing, dancing, lots of laughter, and of course, a generous morning tea and a feast for lunch.  But the best moment for me was when a retired officer stood and gave a brief speech.  He told us that their outpost had been founded in 1940, which meant that it had taken 73 years for the congregation to grow to the point at which it could be recognized as a corps.

Once again, I started to think, "How unfair!"  Yet no one else was complaining.  On the contrary, they could not have been happier, giving all the glory to God for His goodness and His grace.

The Lwenya Corps - Corps No. 400 in Kenya West

That's the key, I thought.  I had forgotten about God's grace.  How easy it is for me to fill my mind with thoughts of life's unfairness, when I should be putting all the things that I encounter and experience within the context of what the Saviour did for me.  After all, I deserved nothing, but God still loved me.  

So in a way, I'm glad that life is unfair.  Because if it were otherwise, I wouldn't be able to thank him for blessing me so richly every single day of my life.