Evidently, all lawyers and insurance companies believe in God.
After all, they regularly use the term “Act of God” in legal contexts, insurance policies, and contracts. In such cases, an Act of God is a natural event that occurs without human intervention and for which no one can be held responsible.
Some examples include earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, tsunamis, wildfires, and windstorms.
It would seem that God is doing a lot of acting these days.
We experienced that last one up close and personal two years after we moved into our dream home on Lake Michigan. A 112-mile-per-hour straight-line wind screamed down our street and ripped out almost all of the 150 trees in our backyard, damaging our home and car in the process. Our life changed in an instant as our property was transformed into an apocalyptic hellscape.
The great news was that no one was hurt.
The good news was that insurance took care of fixing the minor damage to our home and car.
The bad news was that it didn’t cover anything with the backyard. We had to hire professional lumberjacks and a landscaping company to remove the trees, clear the land, and, after dump trucks dropped fifty-three loads of dirt, plant and water new grass.
It was an Act of God that ended up costing us…about fifty-three dump trucks filled with money.
I admit, I was pretty mad at God for a good long while. I just couldn’t understand why He would plunge us into debt at no fault of our own, especially after we’d fought so hard to finally become debt-free just a few years earlier.
In times of trial, we are desperate to blame someone, and God often takes the brunt of our criticism. After all, who else is there to blame for an Act of God?
Eventually, I got mad at myself for being so mad, considering no one got hurt and it could have been so much worse.
My biggest mistake was forgetting that God was not done acting.
St. John Paul ll reminds us, “In God’s plan, nothing happens by chance.”
It took a long time to unpack the blessings that emerged from that storm. Yes, plural. As of this writing, nearing three years since it happened, and I feel like I’m only scratching the surface. Here are just a few:
First of all, the storm blew some wonderful angels into our lives. New friendships were formed and old bonds were strengthened with friends and neighbors who accompanied us in various ways and helped us navigate that difficult time.
When we bought the house, we knew it needed a new roof. We started saving for it immediately but were still a long way off when the storm hit. While it didn’t put any holes in our roof as it did for some of our neighbors, it did enough damage for the insurance company to cover the cost of the whole thing, allowing us to redirect the money we saved elsewhere.
Meanwhile, my studio buildout was under construction during the time of the storm, but it didn’t incur any damage. The timing of it all was curious because I know that had the studio not already been underway, I would have diverted the funds toward the backyard cleanup, and it’s possible that I still wouldn’t have my studio to this day.
It’s weird to think about, especially considering how much we loved our wooded backyard, but it’s so much better now. We never in a million years would have cut down all the trees, but an Act of God took them all down, making way for moonlit movie nights, a fire pit, new fruit trees, room to play football, the Wonder & Whimsy Society Family Reunion, not to mention the most incredible view.
What took the most time was coming to the understanding that the financial struggles may have been God’s most loving gift, because they were the catalyst that drew me closer to Him and strengthened my faith.
Amid the anguish and fear, I often wondered where God was. But like a muscle, faith grows when it is tested and stretched, not when everything is easy and going great.
Indeed, the brilliant Peter Kreeft explains this when he reminds us, “God wants the very best for us, and the strongest and most precious gift is faith. He hides his presence from us so that we can practice his presence by faith. His hiding is one of his most precious gifts.”
It’s a glimpse at the answer to the age-old question: why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?
If there was a simple tidy answer, it wouldn’t be an age-old question.
But whenever we find ourselves in the crucible of suffering due to some unexpected “Act of God,” it’s worth remembering one thing:
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