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.