Window of Opportunity

Sometimes, things don’t go the way you think they will.

I’ll be honest, it’s been an intense week already. All over the US, there have been episodes of fire, flood, hail and tornadoes. Here in southern Michigan, the threat of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes have been present off and on since Tuesday night.

But before all that, Tony and Beau went ahead and tore down the “Weanies” part of the chicken coop during the beautiful part of the day. Our flock shrank over the winter, mostly because the really old ones were ready to go.

The meek chickens really did inherit the coop, and so we moved all the survivors into the “Meanies” side. (Lizzie, our bell-bottom wearing chicken, is the oldest, and the only one left with a name.)

Because of the crazy weather, we are hosting two community cats who have given birth to a litter, each(!), and they are currently co-parenting in our basement. Needless to say, I am eager to get them out of our house, and so the remaining part of the “Weanies” coop is being remodeled into the “Cat Shack.”

On Tuesday, we created a little nursing/nesting box, and put things in the main area that the mama cats will enjoy. There are shelves up high that they can lie on and look out from, some “ladders” to climb, and even a couple of “hammocks.” They will be staying here for a few weeks, until the kittens are ready for adoption.

We had just finished the sign at the end of the day on Tuesday, when Jim came home. He brought some over-sized boxes so we could continue packing. It was almost dark, but he was able to watch us install the new sign over the cat shack. We planned to move the little feline families in the next day.

But things didn’t go as planned. We often think of stress as a bad thing, but putting stress on something is a great way to see if it will last.

The weather was calm when we retired for the night, but at 1 a.m., I woke to an extra-loud, super-long blast from the fire station. My first conscious thought was to try to remember what that loud sound meant, and the second was to notice that the loudness was because our window was gone. The bedroom curtain was flowing outside into the driving rain.

“That’s a tornado warning,” I heard myself tell Jim, and then stumbled out to wake Tony and Beau. It was quite the confused scene, let me tell you! But somehow we all got down into our cellar before the tornado warning was over, and then we sat on the folding chairs, staring at each other. I kept trying to get an update on the weather, but with no signal, all I could tell was the time.

We could hear muffled noises from upstairs, but had no idea what was going on. We kept waiting for the power to go out. I’m old school, so I was clutching my candles and matches, while Jim confidently held his flashlight. (What if those batteries go out?)

Thankfully, there was no need for either one. When the allotted time was over, we gingerly emerged upstairs, and were relieved to find that everything looked all right.

Everything but the window at the foot of our bed, that is!

But there, leaning up against the wall on the way upstairs was a large, waxed box that had been broken down flat. It was the box that Jim had brought home with him. With a little bit of trimming, it would fit perfectly over the hole.

In a few minutes, Beau was tacking it into place with roofing nails. When he was finished, he pointed at the window, and said, “Shelter.”

I nodded absently, thinking he meant that it provided some shelter, and then I saw that the word, “Shelter” was written across the box. The box had held donations for the rescue mission, so it was labeled for that purpose.

But it also made me think. I couldn’t help but be thankful for how God had provided “shelter” before the need for shelter arose.

As I lay in bed, after all the lights were out and the house was settling down, I kept thinking about the “shelter” box. I thought about all of the people who might be exposed to the storm in the night, while I had a home and was able to snuggle back into my own bed. I took a moment and prayed that God would save and protect them.

My eyes wandered past my feet to the heavy box that was currently protecting us from the storm. Tonight, our own warmth and dryness was provided by God via the rescue mission. I thanked God for the mission, and for the way He poured His Spirit into those who worked with the homeless–people like the sweet man who had just easily fallen asleep next to me.

Every other window in our house was fine in that wind, even the ones that were put in over 142 years ago when this house was built! So why did this one break? I knew the secret. Because it was weak. It had a flaw.

See, the window in our room had a crack in it, and I knew all about it, because I was the one who had (accidentally) done it. The stress of that first blast and the suction of the wind that came after had shattered it, and now the window was decorating the roof with bright sparkles.

I knew long ago the window needed to be replaced, but I had been limping it along until we had enough extra money to put in a whole new replacement window. But now, I had no choice. It couldn’t be put off; it would have to be replaced.

“Test all things; hold fast what is good.” (I Thessalonians 5:21)

If only I had done that! But not only did I NOT TEST the window; I was actually protecting it from too much stress, taping the crack, being careful not to press on it. I knew it wasn’t strong. But during the first blast of wind from the nearby rotating twister, it practically threw itself onto the roof.

Why didn’t I fix it earlier? Last summer, for example, while it was warm and dry? I could have tested its strength, and it would have broken then, instead of now. I would have been replacing it at my leisure, during sunny weather, with the replacement waiting nearby. And if I had done that, there would be no problem tonight, for the wind wouldn’t have broken a strong window.

But then I realized that the breaking of the window was a gift. I had one less decision to make, and one less thing to worry about once it was fixed. The stress revealed the weakness and showed me exactly what to do first. What a relief!

There are so many things that I carry, knowing they need attention, but I am not sure what to do first; or maybe, I don’t have the will to do it, or I am hoping it will fix itself. The breaking of the window was like uncovering a sin, or revealing an illness. The testing reveals the weakness and forces me to deal with it right away; for after the stress, there is no way for things to go back to normal.

Then I began to imagine what the new window would look like without any crack. Hey, I could even change the shape to improve the view! I could put in a picture window, or even a bay window! Wait–what if we put in a sliding glass door and add a balcony? (I enjoy dreaming of possibilities while I am trying to fall asleep.)

Once I stopped trying to hold onto the broken thing, that weak window became a “window of opportunity!”

And in the meantime, God had worked out the timing perfectly so that we would have a big, waxed box available to cover the hole. (Not just a big enough piece of cardboard, but heavily waxed cardboard!) I just have to praise His name! Isn’t that exactly how He works?

God gave us “shelter,” that got us through the night, but it won’t last long. He gave us a “fig leaf” on purpose.

“Test all things; hold fast what is good.” (I Thessalonians 5:21)

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (I Thessalonians 5:18)

I thank God today for my broken window, both for the way he helped me prioritize what’s next, and for the way He made me think about things differently: We are in the season of purification. God doesn’t want us to hold onto anything that will give us false security, and then fail us when it counts.

We have real security in Him, both now, as he helps us heal and build things that are useful for our time on this earth; and in the future, when everything in this world will fall away in the face of His coming. Then, the only things that will continue to exist are those things that are eternal.

Those are the “treasures in heaven” that Jesus taught about: Our relationships with fellow believers, the good works that glorify Him, and our very relationship with God, Himself! No one can take these things away from you. You will always have them, even when this earth has passed away.

So glorify God, do those things that please Him (obedience is God’s “love language,”) and love others, no matter how they treat you, as if you were loving God when you show love to them. Jesus said, “In as much as you have done it to the least of these [like the homeless] you have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40b)

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. . .for where your treasure is, there will your heart be, also.” (Matthew 6:20-21)

Oh, my dear friends, let’s not let anything get in the way of our love for Jesus, especially not the broken things that are doomed. Keep your eyes on Him, and love Him by loving others. Set your will to be pure, and when He knows what you want, then the Lord Jesus will help you, for He wants that, too. Don’t try to do it by yourself, for only He can give you the power!

Pray for me, and I will pray for you, dear friends. May God bless you as you look for your own “windows of opportunity!”