"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from
the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
(James 1:17)
Fifteen years ago, my wife and I moved into a house with 10
acres of wooded property. The house was
already equipped with an indoor wood burner for heating. Thankfully, wood was already stacked perfectly
in rows on pallets between two sets of trees.
I didn’t have to worry about cutting any wood that winter, so the
thought didn’t hit me until winter was finished.
Where am I going to
get enough wood to last us a lifetime at this house? Ten acres can be enough to supply all that,
can it?
I worried. A great
deal, I worried. It kept me awake many
nights, to be honest. I questioned God’s
goodness and ability to provide for me and my family.
A couple years later, a logging company asked if they
could survey our property. Of course, I
declined, citing only having 10 acres to supply a lifetime of wood. The man told me plainly, “If you cut the
right trees down, 5 acres will last you a lifetime.”
I doubted him. But
he was polite, so I filed the comment into the storehouses of my memory.
As I write this 15 years later, we recently paid to have 12
very large trees cut down that posed potential threats to our house if they
were ever to fall the wrong direction. As
a result, I have more wood cut into logs today than I can ever use over the
next three years. And there are still
more felled trees that are yet to be “chunked”.
I have so much wood that my chainsaw is literally fatiguing. I’ve taken it in at the beginning of spring
for a tune-up…and it needs another one!
I have so much wood, that it’s just sitting there, waiting for a
chainsaw and a pallet (or two or three…or 20) on which to stack it all!
All this said: God has not only been faithful to my
family, but He has been over abundantly faithful to provide for my
family. Because He is good and He is
gracious. I didn’t do anything to earn
His favor; God just does it because He is good.
God has blessed my children with full stomachs, warm
clothes on their bodies, and good shoes on their feet as they travel off to
school.
God has bless my wife with the ability, skill, and
patience to be a house manager (aka: stay-at-home mom) without fear of not
being able to pay the bills.
God has bless me with a wonderful employer and career
that I enjoy going to each work day.
My doubts, fears, and worries often overtake my mind, as
it shifts like the wind-blown desert sand. But God’s goodness and faithfulness are
always steadfast. Yet, even if God chose
to withhold material and temporal blessings from me and my family, I still know
that I could trust God’s hand because He is good, and He works for the good of
those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
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