God’s Word tells us He causes all things to work together for good, but sometimes we wonder where His hand is as life feels like it is unraveling. Where is the “Sonlight” when all we see are dark clouds? Where is the silver lining in COVID-19? When I was in Zambia and got the call that a leak in our plumbing was spraying water, draining from upstairs into basement, as we were scrambling to address the situation, I wondered where God’s hand was in it all. Then I got home and we began opening things up and found the most toxic type of mold in our walls and on the floor under laminate flooring, so apparently the leak had slowly been developing for some time, I wondered where God’s hand was.
Holly is going to write a blog soon on the full story with pictures, but for now I wanted to share one aspect that was a silver lining of God’s fingerprint through the challenge. We are so thankful for people from our church who volunteered to help us as the situation continued to deteriorate. One friend from church brought a young man who is from Germany and has no background whatsoever in Christianity or any religion. He has not read a word of the Bible, never been to church, but as we came to find out God has been working in His life. I was able to engage in several conversations with him, give him a Bible and another book to read, and the more we talked, it became clear he was hungry for the Lord. As I shared the Gospel with him, and my friend reinforced the message at other times, the Spirit drew this man to Himself. He told us, “All my life I’ve longed for God, not knowing Who I was longing for. I’ve prayed, not knowing Who I was talking to. Now I realize who God is and what He has done for me.” That night, he prayed to receive Christ and enter God’s family, repenting of his sin and attempts to save himself, and crying out to God for salvation. There was much rejoicing in all our homes (as well as in heaven) when we heard of his decision!
Another fun aspect was that my family was able to be present and listen in as this young man and I spoke together. They witnessed his hunger, his questions, how the Bible addressed those questions and how God was working drawing this man to Himself. We praise God for His grace: grace that saved us, grace that saved this man, grace that helps us share God’s grace with others, grace that keeps us with Him all the way home!
Suddenly the plumbing and mold problem didn’t seem quite so bad as the Son’s light shone out from behind the black cloud producing a brilliant “silver lining.” In fact, maybe God’s hand was in the leak and mold so that one sinner would repent and be brought into the kingdom of God. If so, I rejoice in leaks and mold, and it was all more than worth it to have a new brother in Christ!
