Early in our marriage, my wife and I had a pickup truck. It was an old and ugly thing. Its paint job resembled modern art with flat gray house paint and multiple color “squirts” all over it.
Because of an inoperable gas gauge, we carried a filled five-gallon gas can. When we ran out of gas, we’d empty the gas into the tank and then promptly stop at the next gas station. In parking lots, nobody would park by this truck, but it was ours. We drove it everywhere. We loved it, and it fit our family.
Late one night, we were returning home to our summer camp ministry in California. As I followed the winding roads, I rounded a corner and then realized I no longer had steering. The steering box had gone out. On this winding road, on a dark night, I coasted across the road onto a side road perfectly aligned to my driving path. I walked back to the camp, borrowed another vehicle and got my family home safely.
Some might say that these were all small things. Still today, I recognize that God had set all the details in order before I needed them. For this young husband and father, small details mattered. The side road was in the perfect spot. The truck broke down less than 5 miles from camp, so I had free towing. I couldn’t find the parts anywhere, but then a neighbor had the exact part I needed for the old truck. I got the truck on the road again, and we drove it for many years until it finally died a much older, but still ugly, truck.
Fast forward many years, with many more examples of God’s care for my family. God moved us to South Dakota to pastor a church—1,500 miles away from family and friends. God provided the money for us to buy an old farm with pole buildings and grain bins on what seemed to us like a lot of acreage. We loved it. It was our home and it fit our family.
But in May, a 400-mile-long path of destructive winds blew through the area. The storm destroyed the outbuildings, grain bins and garage. It severely damaged the house. We’re still 1,500 miles from family, but we’re not far from our church family and friends. They’ve stepped in to be the hands of God, to help pick up the pieces. We’re still recovering. I rest in knowing that the same God who protected a young family on a dark, winding road will still guide this older husband and father.
Lamentations 3:22-24 says,“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’”
Currently we are rebuilding. It’s hard work, but my hope is in the Lord. The Lord continues to show his sovereign hand in all of this. How will it end? I don’t know, but God knows. I can rest in a God who takes care of the details.
Stuart J. Curry is the pastor at Salem MB Church, rural Bridgewater, S.D.
Stuart J. Curry is the pastor of Salem Mennonite Brethren Church in rural Bridgewater, South Dakota. He is originally was from Washington State. He and his wife, Anne, have 11 children and 2 grandchildren. Stuart’s hobbies are woodworking, chasing his kids and finding the perfect cup of coffee.