Recently Cheryl and I returned home from an Alaskan cruise and spending some time in Seattle visiting friends. We had been gone for twelve days and arrived home just before midnight. The next morning I had a Zoom meeting, but when I went into my home office, I had no power in any of the outlets. I went to the electrical panel and the breaker was tripped. I turned it on, but it tripped off again immediately. Since it was time for my meeting, I quickly ran an extension to my office to power my computer.

When the meeting was over, I unplugged everything in my office and the guest room, but the breaker kept tripping. I remembered the outlets on the outside of the house, so I started checking them. When I got to the back porch, there was a puddle of water in one corner, even though we had no rain for several weeks.

I then inspected the drip irrigation system I installed for all of Cheryl’s plants. It is on a timer to try to keep the vegetation alive in the Texas heat. One of the hoses came off of a “t” fitting and was shooting a stream of water into the aforementioned corner. In fact, it was aimed at directly at a covered outlet. When I opened the cover, I found the blackened GFCI outlet in the pictures. The stream of water got behind the cover, and what could have been disastrous was avoided thanks to the circuit breaker.

I got the outlet replaced and all is well. As I was doing the repair, I realized that I had just witnessed God’s gracious protection in my life. And I thought of Psalm 91, especially these verses.

Psalm 91:9–12 If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the Lord, who is my refuge—then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

Does this mean the faithful will be exempt from all calamities and tragedies? Of course not. I know believers whose homes have burned down because of an electrical problem. In this world we have trouble. But this Psalm gives us the assurance of God’s constant presence with us. Isn’t it ironic how quickly we try to blame God when something goes wrong, but we fail to credit Him when something goes right?  I recognized God’s goodness in the form of a tripped circuit breaker. Even more so, I see His goodness in the face of Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave Himself to achieve my forgiveness and eternal life.

John 10:28–29 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

Thank God for the protection He provides for us every day!