Life is not fair. We’ve heard it time and time again. This weekend I have witnessed this saying in action. Friday afternoon, on my way home from work, I was at a stop sign just one block from my home. There were a couple of cars in front of me and a few behind me. We were all at a complete stop. All of a sudden, I felt a thud. At first I thought, “Did my car just quit on me?”, but then I looked in my rearview mirror and noticed that the car behind me, which was also originally at a complete stop, was extremely close to the back-end of my vehicle. “Ut-oh! My car just got it.” I pulled into the parking lot and the other vehicle followed suit. When I exited my car to examine the damage, the gentleman immediately began apologizing for hitting me. He admitted that he is going through a tough time right now, he had bent down to get his cell phone, his foot slipped, and bam…his truck hit my car. We chatted for a while. I learned about his divorce that he is presently going through, his family (which were familiar to me sicne we’ve all been raised in this small town), his work, he knew my father-in-law, where he goes to church, how he spent his first week drinking when his wife told him (on his birthday) that she was leaving, and so on. Seriously! (Tim couldn’t believe that I was privy to so much information in such a small amount of time.)
Well, throughout our conversation God was able to be spoken of several times. I mentioned how I believe that this accident was a God-divined intervention. The opportunity arose for me to ask this man, “In your personal opinion, what do you believe it takes to get to heaven?” He didn’t answer, “I believe that being good will get me there.” Or “If I work hard enough I will get there.” (These, by the way, are not the way to get to heaven.) He replied, “You must have Jesus in your heart.” Amen! Ding-ding-ding, that’s right! So…I continued with my questioning and asked him if he had done so. Praise God he had. He admitted that, like many of us, he has strayed away from God at times, but this recent event in his life has him back in church and trying to be more Christ-like.
We prayed for him, his marriage, the wife and daughter involved, etc. I could sense the man’s humility and brokenness.
Life, right now, was not fair for this man.
In Ecclesiastes 9:12 it says,“You never know when hard times will come. Like fish in a net or birds in a snare, people are often trapped by some disaster that suddenly falls on them.”
Did this man know that this season of “hard times” was going to happen to him? No.
Much like the raccoon that has been knocking down our garbage cans and prowling our neighborhood. What? Well, the same night as the accident, Tim and I were out enjoying the beautiful night and chatting about life. (I believe we’ve solved the world’s problems with many of our backyard conversations. Haha) We had just set out a trap to catch the raccoon. Not even 45 minutes had passed when; “Snap!” we heard the sound of the trap door slam. This raccoon wasn’t the big one we’ve seen a couple of times, but now we know there are more than one. This adorable raccoon was probably just sniffing the air, smelled the aroma of the tuna, and thought, “Hmmm, I believe I’ll partake in that delicious delight.” Ut-oh, again. Mr. Raccoon was not expecting to get trapped and fall on hard times. 
So… life isn’t fair. Agreed. We need to learn to live like the next verse:
Ecclesiastes 11:7-8a, “Oh, how sweet the light of day, and how wonderful to live in the sunshine! Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted. Take delight in each light-filled hour.”
Don’t take life for granted! Always delight in each hour. There will be hard times, so be prepared and enjoy the moments of ease when you have them.
Blessings to you!
September 16, “Walking in the Word”
