Last Saturday, as I brewed my second cup of coffee for the morning, I realized that our supply of that essential, mind clearing beverage was running low. I logged in to Amazon, found my previous order, and point, click, boom! my coffee was on its way. A few hours later a big Amazon truck pulled up, a guy jumped out and ran to my front stoop with a carton containing 128 fresh pods of our favorite blend. Why even kings in days of old did not have the power to summon all that to the front gate of the castle.

The feeling of power, of being in control is everywhere prevalent in this country. Want to chat? Reach in your pocket, thumb in a number and you can be talking to someone almost anywhere in the world. Without getting out of one’s pajamas, it’s possible to pay a bill, receive money, or make an investment by simply pressing lightly on the simulated keyboard on that same phone. The capabilities of modern technology are amazing, giving us the power to do things even our parents never dreamed of. Why it’s almost godlike.

A day or two later, on that same device, I checked out the weather forecast. It was not good. The simulated radar showed a massive storm system consisting of high winds, torrential rain, and snow. It was displayed as wide crescent, extending from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico, and it was moving slowly from west to east, the northern tip was in western Minnesota and it was aimed at Wisconsin, our home. Yikes!

The little device in my hand didn’t make me feel so powerful anymore. That storm had the potential to knock out my electric service, flood my basement and/or make the road in front of my house impassible with a couple of feet of snow. No matter how many buttons I pushed, there was nothing I could do to stop that storm from coming our way.

That’s the difference between me and God. I have grand illusions about my power to control things, but God’s got the power to shut down everything I depend on. Every time I get a little cocky about being in charge of my life, God reminds me who is really in charge. Why, one time, I was driving down a highway, free as a bird, running away from my life, headed for a place where I could start over and be my own man, when suddenly, my car was afflicted with a failing u-joint. And because of it, I have spent the last fifty-seven years as a resident of Wisconsin, and not Arizona.

God sends challenges our way yes, but He is both merciful and purposeful in what He does. Last night the heavy rains pounded the roof, but the sump pump kept the basement dry. The storm is now continuing eastward, and a relative living on the east coast is in for some blowing snow, but I trust she will be spared from, or sustained through, the worst.

This morning I read Psalm 136, which begins, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” The psalm continues by recalling God’s great creative power, and retelling of the great rescue of His people from the land of Egypt, and His protection for them in the wilderness. And every verse ends with the words, “… for his steadfast love endures forever.” This is what we can rely on when the storm is bearing down on us, when our enemies taunt and surround us, and yes, even when we get cocky about our own power, “…his steadfast love endures forever.” So I’m going to meditate on that while I have a nice hot cup of coffee, thinking about the God who made those coffee beans to grow on some hillside in South America, the people who picked the beans, the ones who shipped them, roasted them, packaged them, and delivered them right to my door. God is a very good God, “…for his steadfast love endures forever.”