Journal 2006

Some days when you play a game, the cards fall in your favor. Other times, no matter what you do, the cards go against you. Is that random chance or does God control the cards? But there’s a certain amount of man’s choice, too, such as how many times you shuffle the cards.

Take the following example. In the last month or two, the dollars began flying out the window—most of it not by choice, but by circumstances beyond our control.

• Our air conditioner compressor goes out.
• Our washing machine dies.
• My Cutlas Ciera needs two new tires.
• My CD burner dies.
• I need a root canal.
• Our youngest daughter needs some expensive health tests on her thyroid.
• She falls at Fall Creek Falls and messes up her body.
• She bumps her head, hard, on the car and begins to experience headaches.
• She accidentally catches a strap on my rearview mirror and the mirror comes off the windshield, taking some of the glass with it.
• She experiences her first flat tire.
• And her first college school bill is due.

More cards to shuffle:

On Sunday evening, just as our five-day-Intensive client left, our middle daughter walked in the door after being gone for a week.

On Monday I started a new job.

On Tuesday I need to do the following:

• Clean house, do laundry, shop for groceries.
• Get new tires.
• Be home for computer repairman and windshield repairman.

On Wednesday, I will need to get up very early to take my husband to the airport, meet with a client all day, and host a pool party for my ladies’ Bible study group in the evening.

But circumstances started changing, like cards falling right. Both the computer guy and the windshield repairman postponed, my middle daughter was here to clean for me, and she also offered to drive her dad to the airport. My youngest daughter’s thyroid test came back negative, and God miraculously healed her. A young man drove up and offered to change her tire.

Good-bad-good-bad. Each bad can actually be good—it all depends on your perspective. If a tire was going to blow, better on a back road in Murfreesboro than on the freeway. It might be the catalyst for preventing an accident later on.

But think of this: clearing Tuesday’s schedule for these two repairmen puts them coming on Thursday afternoon instead. That’s okay IF our client is finished by that time. Otherwise, it could be a double interruption. Is it God’s plan to destress my Tuesday, or Satan’s plan to interrupt Thursday? Not to worry. God has all things under control.

Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, says he sees life as two parallel tracks—good and bad running side by side. There’s always good happening, and there’s always bad. Even in the worst-case scenario, there’s something to be thankful for.