Good Disasters

Just the other day I went for a very long bike ride. Half-way into the outward-bound leg of the journey I got a flat tire. Bad. I started walking. I met a man who told me there was a bike repair shop about three miles away – if it still existed. This was going to take hours. But I kept walking.

I came to a gas station. No help there. But while I stood around searching for bike repair shops on my iTouch, two separate people, in the midst of their own disasters, stopped to ask for directions. I was able to not only give them the direction they were seeking but, as we talked, I was also able to give them some additional advice about the problems they were experiencing – I had been their way before.

Back to walking. This time it occurred to me to ask God for a miracle – an angel, someone – anyone – who could help me.

Within two minutes I came upon another problem, another potential disaster: a traffic light was out on the busy road on which I was walking. And elderly lady had stationed herself in the intersection, directing traffic in an attempt to prevent an accident. She came over to me to talk and, before I knew it, she was offering to give me a ride to a bike repair shop.

I don't pretend to know all the good that God did that day in those situations but I do know that, had my tire not blown, had those two people not gotten lost, and had that particular traffic light not failed, the four of us would not have enjoyed the blessings we did. Oh, sure, we would have gone through the day without those difficulties but we certainly would not have know the pleasure of helping each other or of seeing God's hand at work. In fact, we probably wouldn't have noticed that the day had gone smoothly – we would have expected it.

Sure, these were very minor problems compared to the fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, oil spills, etc. that some people experience. I've experienced one or two “real” disasters in my life. But as with my experience on my bike, I've become convinced that God can and does work unimaginable good through what can often seem to be a unredeemable, unmitigated disaster.