Day 242 Dressed in a Crisis

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Get this: it's a mission trip nightmare! At a summer workcamp, a student workcrew was making repairs to drywall at the home of two women: an elderly mother on oxygen therapy and her daughter.

While they were working, they had to move the washer and dryer, and when the washer was moved away from the wall, one of the incoming water lines broke. Water started spraying everywhere! The floor flooded quickly while the kids frantically tried to locate the water shut-off valve. They soon realized that the source of the home’s water was a well, so they turned off the electricity to the home to shut down the pump. The water from the broken pipe stopped spraying.

But. The machine that delivered the mother’s oxygen was also powered by electricity now wasn't working. The workers finally located the water shut-off valve, so they were able to promptly turn back on the electricity to the home. Now however, the oxygen machine would not function. Seriously!

Unable to get the machine working again, the workers called the paramedics. When they arrived, they found that the machine had been malfunctioning before the electricity had been turned off. They then gave the mother a new, reliable oxygen machine.

The students were upset and felt responsible for causing the crisis that had threatened the home and the mother’s health.

But after a while, another perspective began to dawn on them. As it turned out, the water pipe that broke had not been installed correctly to begin with. Two pipes had been simply glued together without any sort of connector between them, and any movement of the washer would have easily caused the pipes to come apart. The substandard plumbing was replaced later that day. And, by shutting down the electricity, the mother learned that her oxygen machine wasn’t functioning properly.

In the end, the kids realized that God had used their presence at the house – and what were scary moments of crisis – to provide the additional help that the women didn't even know that they needed: these problems would have occurred anyway, and because of their presence the work crew was there to help the women deal with situations that would have been devastating had they been alone. At the end of the day, both the women and the work crew were certain that they had seen God at work, blessing everyone involved.

Our God is more than big enough to orchestrate blessing out of a crisis. When trials come your way, trust Him!