We’ve been on a month-or-more-long journey of home-improvement projects. It started awhile back when we realized that we would need to replace our roof this year. One very smart contractor from whom we got a quote let us know that our insurance was required to pay for a new roof if it had sustained at least 25% wind and hail damage. No one else had told us that. It was a wonderful provision for us. It also meant that, instead of spending a recently cashed-out investment on a roof, we could tackle some projects at home. Like replacing our too-small refrigerator, redecorating our family room, repainting our pool deck and finally finishing a side yard that had been divested of its swing set a long time ago.
Watching everything take shape was a wonder. Finding sales, creating something beautiful from pieces of wood, planting flowers in December to fulfill the vision I had for the yard. When furniture salespeople told me I wouldn’t be able to find the color couch I wanted because it just wasn’t popular anymore, I persevered, and God provided. When my husband took my plan and desire for a whole-wall bookshelf/TV oak unit and built it with his own hands, I felt the love. When I wanted a certain type of pot for the flowers in the yard, and brick-and-mortar stores and internet searches let me down for weeks, I didn’t give up. There were many times I felt that maybe my plans for this yard were going to have to be set aside, and I was going to have to compromise my vision. But God knew what I wanted. He didn’t have to provide these pots—and for a really great price—but I think He wanted to give me a glimpse of how much He cares about the details.
Every time I look at all that God allowed us to accomplish the past 2 months, I wonder how anyone could argue the existence of God, or the fact that He cares about us. Why would God care what kind of flower pots I have in my yard? But He does. And He provided just what I asked for.
God loves, God provides, God cares.
And what about our friends with the sick son in Colorado? Does God care about them? Isn’t he more important than a pot?
What about the family who just lost their mother? Does God care about them? Why didn’t He provide a cure as He provided the perfect pot?
That’s the age-old question, isn’t it? Why do bad things happen to good people?
Because the world is a broken place. People get sick and die, suffering is rampant. And so is sin. That’s why we long for paradise, and the little glimpses that God gives us along the way help us hold on for the journey. They help to remind us that forever is longer than this.
How do we know God loves us and cares for the details of our lives? The proof is in the pots.
Compelled 