Romans 8:28

The door-bell was ringing; someone was knocking; I awoke, and realised that it wasn't a dream; the bedside clock showed that it was 0250!  Jumping up, and grabbing my dressing-gown, I made for the front door.  As I walked down the hallway, I saw that there were blue flashing lights outside.  I called to my wife - thinking that there was some emergency that entailed our neighbours and us being evacuated from our homes.  'Twas not so!

As I opened the door, I was met with the sight of the caravan on which we had spent so many hours this past week, cleaning and polishing in order to sell, with thick, black, rancid, smoke billowing from it, and two fire appliances on the roadway outside.  We were as gutted as the caravan now was!

To make matters worse, we only had the caravan because it had required some warranty work, for which a major part had been ordered by our local dealer, and which was completed just last week.  In the meantime, we had purchased a replacement 'van in which we had spent our long summer holiday.  The only reason for not having traded in the other one was the fact that the part had been ordered, and was being manufactured.  This meant that, while we had taken out insurance on the 'new' (pre-loved/second-hand) 'van, we didn't have any cover for the one that is now useless!

The cause of the fire has still to be determined, but as the door was found to be unlocked, and a window was found to be open (I had been washing the outside yesterday, and would certainly have noticed the latter), it would appear that the fire was started deliberately "by a person, or persons, unknown"!

The salt in the wound was today, when a friend, who had learned last evening that the 'van was for sale, 'phoned my wife to express an interest in coming to view it.  I have offered a reduced price!!!

So, how does one react in such a situation?  Well, we have looked for the positives.  No-one was in the 'van, so no-one was injured, or killed.  The fire was at the side of the 'van that faced away from the house, so the wooden supports in the front porch didn't catch fire, with the potential for a much more serious situation.  We will be able to salvage quite a number of saleable items, so the financial loss, although still considerable, may not be as much as I had expected in the early hours of the morning.

And was it mere coincidence that, when I sat down for my private devotions this morning, I was directed to Psalm 31:14-24?  Those verses commence with the words: "But I trust in Thee, O YHWH; I say 'Thou art my God'." and end: "Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for YHWH."

The situation in which David penned those words was different from the situation in which we find ourselves this evening.  But we serve the same God, and know Him in a way in which David was unable to know Him, as Messiah had not yet appeared in David's day.  So, we give thanks, remembering those in the persecuted church who, like some in the Mexican town of San Rafael Tianalapan, were forced out of their homes (not touring caravans) by other, traditionalist, townsfolk who threatened to "crucify, or lynch," them if they stayed.

And we can rejoice in the knowledge that, from His vantage-point of eternity, Father God not only knows that that fire is taking place (for in eternity there is only 'present' - no past or future!), but also knows how the situation is being resolved, in a future moment of physical time.

You see, Romans 8:28 either means everything - or nothing; and we choose to believe the former!