The Best Thing that Never Happened

The other day, while I was not at home, my wife called me and said, "Guess what I just found on our patio?" Well, you can guess. It was a rattlesnake. She found it while she was out spraying off the patio. It had been resting underneath the hose reel (there on the right). She called a local herpetologist who came right out and took the little female away. End of story.

Or ... not. You see, when my wife went out to clean off the patio, she had to pick up the hose lying inches from the snake's hiding place. She stood there in sandals for a moment unreeling the hose so she could walk around and clean the deck. In other words, without knowing it, she was within easy striking distance of a venomous snake for at least a minute. The end of the story was that she was not bitten by a rattlesnake.

That may be an easy one to appreciate, being so serious and clear, but I'm pretty sure that we are daily spared harm and disaster of which we are never aware. You know. That light turned red when you were in a hurry and you gnashed your teeth impatiently, never realizing that had you made that light you would have been in a fatal car crash at the next intersection. Or maybe not so dramatic. You decide you need to eat more fruits and vegetables which forestalls the heart attack that was sure to happen if you hadn't. Or you just miss the call that would have landed you the job you were hoping to get, never realizing that if you had, you would have hated it.

When good things happen, we can see them. When bad things happen, we can see them. But when things don't happen, they're invisible. My wife's non-encounter with that snake served as a fine reminder that God is always in charge. He knows what we don't. He prevents what He doesn't want to happen. Note that this includes sin. See, for instance, the story of Abraham and Abimelech (Gen 20:1-7). There God tells Abimelech, "It was I who kept you from sinning against Me. Therefore I did not let you touch her" (Gen 20:6). I'm quite certain that I have very much for which to be thankful that did not happen. Today it's on my mind because I'm grateful that snake didn't strike. It probably should be on my mind more often than once or twice a lifetime. In fact, I ought to remember and appreciate the fact that God works all things together for good -- even the things that He prevents.