July 7

Day 115: When Bad Things Happen

My (much older than me) widowed neighbor across the street had a bad day yesterday. Turning her sedan into her garage she cut the angle too short and scraped the right side of her garage pulling in.

Realizing this was not a good thing, she thought to put the car in reverse and back out. Unintentionally hitting the accelerator instead, she drove the car into the water heater, and into a stand up freezer...which pushed the freezer through the wall into the house itself.

In an instant, mayhem and destruction. A mashed freezer, a broken water heater, and water spraying everywhere. She should have been badly hurt, but wasn't.

She's plucky, for sure. She raised a whole pile of kids, so I'll bet (like Farmer's Insurance) she's seen a thing or two.

Her attitude was something like, "Oh well, it's just stuff. It'll all get fixed." Remarkable, really. I went to school on how to have a good attitude while having a bad day.

Here's what made it a good day. My neighbor Kevin and my other neighbor Matt came to her aid. I followed soon after. (I didn't want to miss out.)

We somehow got the car pushed away from the wall (and the storage racks and big tool boxes now leaning on the car) and got the car out of the garage. We picked up some stuff, got the water main turned off (without space here to tell you how), and called a plumber (who might now have work for days.)

After this, she thanked us and shooed us away...but then from my office window I watched how other neighbors came with empty coolers to help store the frozen food that had been in the now demolished freezer.

Our neighborhood worked!

Without stopping to consider the interruption or imposition on our respective schedules, our neighborhood quickly mobilized, to serve one of our own in an hour of need.

Isn't it funny how we can be most human (image-bearers of our Creator God) when bad things happen?

There is no room for indifference when bad things happen. Indifference is contrary to concern, thus to mobilization.

This got me thinking about gospel mission. How is it that we church people can normally be so indifferent to the eternal fate of our neighbors and friends? How readily do we stop and consider the interruption or imposition on our respective schedules and priorities, thus disqualifying ourselves?

Is it like we need something really bad to happen, to force each of us out of our little protective bubbles?

Hope not, but probably so.

God is well within His rights to allow bad things to happen, in order for His goodness to be seen.

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church | Juneau