Broken Chains

The air conditioner in my office wasn’t working yesterday, so I had to get a fan to keep from sweating. I chuckled when I realized the comedy that a week prior a record-setting winter storm ravaged Texas. As I’ve been thinking about the storm and its impact, I asked myself this question: If what I believe about God is true, God could have prevented this storm. So why didn’t he?

We have to be careful when asking questions like this because, in the micro sense, we have no way of knowing why things happen. For example, this past summer I was set to renovate my kitchen, and as we were gaining momentum to get started, my contractor was hospitalized with COVID, and when he recovered, he decided to retire. I never renovated the kitchen, and six months later, I am writing this in a new house and am glad we never renovated. Was this the reason he got COVID? It seems like one reason, but it certainly wasn’t the only one. Who knows how many countless situations like this God’s been orchestrating through last week’s storm? It’d be foolish for us to try and understand these specifics. We can, however, speculate on the macro aspect of things.

I’m lying on a sectional across from my cousin, who’s wrapped in a blanket. The smell of chili still permeates the house. Despite having just eaten, it’s a welcome smell – something about chili is comforting on a cold day. There’s frost on the ground keeping us inside, but not bad enough to keep me off the roads.

Between the two of us, hundreds of magnetic blocks lie on the carpet. A few minutes ago those blocks formed a castle but only the rubble remains. Wrapped in the blanket with her are my cousin’s two daughters – five and three years old – and they’re both vying for the best real estate, the place closest to mom.