Making Crooked Things Straight

Making Crooked Things Straight

Sometimes the full effects of a storm don’t become apparent until long after the wind has subsided. A category 3 storm pulled one huge tree down but not into my house, only resting on it. I had no power for nearly two weeks, but my little 1920s pier-and-beam cottage fared amazingly well—except for the garage.

I didn’t notice at first that a large tree limb was leaning heavily on the garage roof. Or that the entire garage itself had begun to list slightly to the east. I finally noticed when I tried to open its doors and could not.

A crew of workers came to tackle the off-kilter garage. In a matter of hours, these men literally wrestled that old garage back into form, sawing away the offending tree and then attaching great straps to the frame to coax it back to square once more. The end result was good. I once again had a garage I could open (and was not afraid to go into.)

We are not always aware of our own storm casualties either. Perhaps we’ve suffered a loss or abuse or grief so strong that we’re amazed to be standing at all in its aftermath. Only after a bit of time do we see that we are still bruised or bleeding or at the very least off balance. When daylight shows the damage, there is only one thing left to do: gather the mercy of God and the community of saints around us and wrestle for as long as it takes to get upright again.

A short time ago at a retreat I was asked to lead, I met a beautiful young woman who just two months before had buried her infant son. She told me her story, and as she did, I was awed by the weight of it and silenced by her loss. I had nothing to give her but my own tears, but in the providence of the Architect who loves her, I believe even those might be part of the shoring up that will help her get upright once again.

One day, all that was once crooked will be made straight. One day, the damaging results of every storm will be put right. Don’t you long for that day? I do.

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

Psalm 147:3