The Ingenuity of God

     My husband and I stared in disbelief as we surveyed the extensive damage the termites had done to our home! Just a few hours ago everything looked perfect.

     We were in the midst of a renovation, which included replacing our front door. Before the door could be installed, we had to remove the wallpaper from the walls. “What in the world is that?,” we asked in unison. There were vertical tracks on the drywall. Our contractor was somewhat suspicious and suggested we remove the drywall to examine the wood beneath. Much to our horror, the wood had been ravaged by termites, which meant not only replacing the two by fours, but the header and footer as well! My husband and I stood shaking our heads as we gazed upon the ruins. What began with excitement dissolved into disaster!

     That evening as I sat in prayer, I brought all my anger, frustrations and questions to God. “I’m really annoyed Lord. You know we take good care of our home. How could this happen without our being aware? It looked so pretty to the eye before we began our home improvements. How could we have been so fooled?”

     As I calmed down and began to relax, I began to listen as God spoke to my heart. “You’re right – it did appear perfect – but the damage was there and it was extensive. Unless you removed the wallpaper, you would have continued to be unaware. I gave you a sign so that you would look beneath the drywall to find the damage. You were then able to see that there was a problem and move toward fixing it. Just replacing the wallpaper wouldn't have been enough. It would have only gotten worse. Now you can do something about it. You should thank Me for revealing the damage to you.”

     As God’s words sunk into my mind and I pondered them more deeply, a sense of gratitude began to bubble within my being. I was not grateful to God for the termites, but for the revelation of their presence and the gift of uncovering the damage that lay beneath the beauty.

     God then continued, “There is a lesson to be learned here. I used your house as an example to point out a truth about mankind. You only see the surface – what man wants you to see. He can look really good from the outside, but inside might be woundedness and brokenness. It can occur from the trials and tribulations of life: abuse, alcoholism, lack of love, rejection, broken promises, failed relationships, disappointments, material, emotional and spiritual poverty and a vast number of reasons.”

     “Life goes on for a time, until I allow something to happen so I can get his attention and begin to repair the damage. Sometimes man will come to Me and ask for help, while other times he stays away and tries to fix it on his own, or worse yet, he just “wallpapers” over the “tracks” that have come to the surface.”

     “I allow these situations in order to help him, but he sees it as punishment instead. I want to help him to become whole again, heal him and hold him close to my heart. Sometimes he responds and sometimes he does not.”

     God continued the lesson by telling me that only He can see beneath the surface. When I encounter someone, even if they are smiling, I never know what lies beyond my vision. I must always be kind, compassionate and loving – especially when the person is being difficult to deal with. I don’t always know what life has inflicted upon them.

     I sat there in awe and wonder at the ingenuity of God. He used what appeared to me as a disaster to teach me a valuable life lesson. I rose from my time of prayer thanking Him for His wisdom, but I still could not find it in my heart to thank Him for the termites!