“And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing.”
Ezekiel 34:26 (RSV)
As I think about those small graces that God sends us during times of adversity, it’s like a small shower of blessing that comes down in its appointed season. I received a few of these small showers this week.
Looking back at the blessing of a totally surprise retirement party in 2023, I missed not seeing three surgeons who I worked with for the past twenty five years, who couldn’t make it since they were out of town.
I will always cherish the memories of those I worked with, but I remember thinking that it would have been a more perfect celebration if those other three surgeons could have been there.
Shortly afterward, I offered to help a friend by bringing her to a doctor appointment in the office building attached to the hospital, where I used to work. I prayed my favorite daily prayer, before leaving the house, which is to ask for God’s perfect timing in all things. When we arrived, at first we couldn’t find a parking space in any handicapped spots. As I was about to head for the main front door to drop her off, we passed a newly opened space very close to the door.
After her appointment, I was pushing her wheelchair toward the elevator, and as the door opened, there stood one of the three surgeons who couldn’t make it to my retirement party. We happily greeted each other with a big hug inside the elevator.
That moment brought closure to all my years, by being able to say goodbye to someone who I enjoyed working alongside all those years. It was no coincidence that he was in that elevator at that moment, at that specific time on that specific day, because I asked for God’s perfect timing. Finding a parking space close to a door for my handicapped friend was also another grace of God’s perfect timing.
Showers of blessing and perfect timing doesn’t mean everything always goes our way with steadfast perfection. It means a shower of blessing comes at the right time and place and brings us brief moments of refreshing, when needed most.
Sometimes these showers of blessing come through a kind stranger on the phone, who offers extra help or an explanation. The past few weeks have been overwhelming, filling out forms and learning new things from attorneys regarding my legal guardianship of my son, who is living in a Nursing Home, disabled from a motorcycle accident.
It’s a mentally and emotionally exhausting tasks, but God sent some of the kindest and most helpful people along the way, who were a shower of blessing to me. God knows the perfect time and season for our next shower of kindness, in which He usually gives through the help of other people. We are never forgotten, and the Lord is attentive to every detail that concerns us. A shower of blessing is headed our way, and will arrive in His perfect timing.
Lord, thank you for being with us in every new task and responsibility, and for the showers of blessing that come according to your perfect timing. Amen