A hundred kilometres an hour clicked smoothly by — until the harsh scraping sound from under the van rudely interrupted. “WHAT’S THAT?” The Preacher slowed and pulled off the highway. Fearing the worst, we got out and inspected below.
A loose narrow rod, bent at both ends, rested on a crossbar. One end dangled, touching the ground. “Must have fallen off the motor,” the Preacher said, fishing it out and inspecting. “Looks like it held something in place.”
We set out again, praying to make it home safely. The vehicle seemed fine. Nevertheless, I worried.
“Don’t go over any bumps,” said the driver in the passenger seat. “And watch out for potholes.”
“Hmm, hmm,” said the driver in the driver’s seat.
“Wouldn’t want whatever that thing was holding up to drop out,” I said. As a female, I clearly understand best the importance of straps and such for holding in and up things best held in and up.
“Hmmm, hmm.”
“And turn in at the north end of town. Not as many potholes.”
He chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, just thinking of the first chapter in your last book,” he said, aiming low.
I remembered. That chapter in Practice by Practice involves both worry and faith. “Hey, no fair,” I said. “I’m a realist. And speaking realistically, Hon, some things are worth getting concerned over, even while trusting God for answers. If our bottom caves, we could be in serious trouble.”
He shrugged. It irks me when the Preacher doesn’t worry about the things that worry me. “Don’t need to,” he says. “Doesn’t help. Besides, you do enough worrying for us both.”
I admit it. Sometimes my faith needs a reboot. I also need to review our own backstory. In all our life journeys, in far more dire circumstances, even life-threatening ones, God has proved himself absolutely faithful to the promises in his Word.
“I am with you always, even until the end,” Jesus told his followers in Matthew 28. And, “Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you,” scripture reminds in 1 Peter 5:7.
Friend, on good days when life is full and on others when it feels like the bottom is dropping (taking us along) God is there. God cares. He is trustworthy. Faithful. Able to rescue. And he always keeps his word.
But God is never bound by our timeline, nor our demands for explanations when it would seem otherwise. I hear an echo of God in a classic Mary Poppins quote: “First of all, I would like to make one thing clear: I never explain anything.”
