Providing Presents

 

        For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:4-6, New International Version)

I woke up in the middle of the night, thinking it must be morning already, as there was light outside sneaking in around the curtains. I couldn’t check the time on the clock radio, as the power had been out from a wind storm since Wednesday night. I reached for my travel clock but dropped it on the floor. My cell phone was turned off to conserve its battery, so I pulled my Kindle from my nightstand and turned it on. Hmm? 1:11 am.

It was still cold in the bedroom – we’d managed to keep the house between 50 and 55 degrees for the past three days – and there was nothing to do but sleep under the cozy covers.

About that time Hubby woke up and asked, “is that the garage spotlight on outside?”

“Remember, we don’t have any electricity?”

I rolled over and noticed that the light which looked like morning on the rest of the walls was definitely not from nature. Four slats of light in two different spots shone above Hubby’s dresser.

Aliens?

I crawled out from the warm blankets and peeked out the window. I was transported back to my parents’ house when I was five years old and the tree on Christmas morning sheltered a plethora of beautifully wrapped gifts. No one has ever described a pair of Public Service trucks in that way before!

Through the window of the back door, inside my fifty-degree house, I watched them work for an hour in the twenty-degree cold in the woods behind our home The pole holding our electric line swayed as the young man climbed it, then reached out as his partner threw him various things. In the dark, with just their headlamps and one other light on the ground.

At 2:35 am, exactly 72 hours after going out, our power was restored.

There is no gift so great as total strangers supplying you with electricity, heat, and running water in the middle of the night. Or that’s the greatest gift any human can give.

God is ever-present to provide for us in every way, to provide us with the necessities as well as the presents we ask for.

And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.” May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:12-13, New International Version)