Oswald Chambers says it best when he says that troubles almost always make us look to God, but His blessings tend to divert our attention elsewhere. Isn’t that the truth? As I sit here in my warm house, I’m faced with a second day of plumbers trying to figure out why my water isn’t running. They have to resolve that issue before they can repair the burst water line that froze in the very cold temperatures over the weekend. There is now a hole in my kitchen ceiling awaiting repair.

The fun never ends with this house. We’ve lived here not quite five months, but it’s beginning to feel like five years. I have a bathtub full of water that is used for flushing toilets. I have bottles and gallon jugs of water ready for cooking. Every sound I hear makes me wonder if there is another leak in this house we thought was so awesome. Oh. It is still an awesome house, but I’m becoming weary.

I’m reading the book of Job right now in my yearly chronological read of the Bible. I know that my troubles are nothing like his. He lost everything. All he owned and all his children in a single day were just gone. Then he got boils all over his body. His wife told him to curse God and die. His friends tried to give him advice, but they had no clue. Oh. I know my life is nothing like Job’s, and if I’m honest I don’t want it to be.

Now. I know I’m not being persecuted for my faith, as the Bible says Christians can expect. And I’m not really living through a Job experience. I know all that. But for the last four and a half months, I’ve lived through more home repair issues than I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. And I’m tired of it.

You can make many plans, but the Lord ’s purpose will prevail. Proverbs 19:21

Oh. I’ve always dreamed of a rosy life. No hardships. No failures. No troubles or trials. No sickness. No empty bank account. Just a good and easy life. And really, if I’m honest. I have a good life. And it’s relatively easy. Oh. I’ve had hardships and failures. I’ve had troubles and trials. I’ve had minor sickness and definitely an empty bank account. But I’ve survived. And so far, I’m still standing. But I can’t take all the credit. I have a faith in God that is steady and continuing to grow. I know that as the Ruler of the universe, his plans are perfect. He directs my path just as he directs the blowing of the wind. God does not play favorites, so everyone of us can expect some good and not so good things in life.

And just when I’m in the midst of moaning and complaining, I feel as if a miracle has happened. Oh sure. I’ve had plumbers in my house two days in a row. And both days I was told that I would need to replace the water softener that was installed only four months ago. The plumbers weren’t even here to look at the water softener, but they assumed because water wasn’t coming out of the faucets that the water softener was the problem. But these plumbers got it all wrong. Somehow, they didn’t recognize that some of the water pipes were slightly frozen. And when a different team of plumbers arrived the next day, the water had thawed and was running freely.

Just to be clear. The plumbers on the first day got everything wrong. We didn’t have frozen pipes above the kitchen. That leak was caused by water coming from either the leaky roof or snow that had blown into the house and melted onto our kitchen ceiling, causing a huge mess. But they didn’t catch the fact that the reason the water wasn’t running was because of frozen pipes in the crawl space. And they cut the lines to the water softener, because they thought that was the problem. The plumbers on the second day realized there were no busted pipes above the kitchen, but they also said that we would need a new water softener. I’m not sure if they wanted to back up the story from their coworkers who misdiagnosed everything on the first day, but they were all wrong.

I called my kind next door neighbor who is also my water softener guy, and he sent his dad over to check out the situation. He quickly figured out the problem and solved it. There is nothing wrong with the water softener, and there never was. He was very kind not to insult the poor diagnosis given by the plumbers, but we both knew they had greatly misdiagnosed the problem. Once again, it pays to have a very kind neighbor. He didn’t charge me a penny for the repair work. He said it would have been covered under the warranty, anyway, if they would have replaced the equipment.

I did nothing to deserve the kindness of my neighbor, but once again he has extended grace when he didn’t need to. He has a business to run, and he has to keep the lights on so he can’t give everything away. But his father said they don’t charge for repairs such as mine, and for that I’m extremely grateful.

However, I am still waiting for the roofing repairs to be completed.

It’s a great reminder that some days we get things wrong and other days we get things right. I’m not angry with the plumbers, but I will not be as trusting the next time I might need them. Oh. We all make mistakes as we go through life, and some cost us and some cost others. We do need to show grace to those who have wronged us, either intentionally or unintentionally, as hard as it may be. But we would also want others to show kindness and forgiveness to us when we have wronged them.

Life is one big lesson of learning. One minute we can be anxious and frustrated, and then turn around and get good news that melts all of those pent up feelings. It just goes to show that we can’t live on our feelings, because they are fickle and unpredictable. Our faith needs to be firmly grounded in Jesus Christ, the One who will never fail us. He won’t make a wrong diagnosis or lead us astray. His ways are always perfect.

For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. Matthew 5:45