I read this on Yahoo recently:
“A 25-tonne boulder that crashed into a home in the Christchurch earthquake has raised NZ$60,000 ($44,000) in an online charity auction.
“Rocky” the giant rock smashed through the walls of Phil Johnson’s hillside home in the February 22 tremor, coming to rest in his hallway. Johnson put the boulder up for sale on auction website www.trademe.co.nz, attracting more than 300,000 hits and turning his unwanted house guest into an online celebrity. “For sale, 1 owner, 25-30 tonne landscape feature (answers to the name Rocky),” read his listing for the auction, which ended Monday. “He is in pristine condition (just a little bit of concrete dust). Suitable for garden feature, or as in our case, a magnificent addition to your living area… Rocky will enhance your ‘indoor outdoor’ flow considerably.”
The auction generated hundreds of comments, which Johnson said he planned to publish in a book as a way of raising further funds for victims of the disaster, which is believed to have killed more than 200 people. “Look, I’m in the market for such a rock, but I’m concerned about how house-trained your one is. Clearly it’s been digging holes in your back yard. Has it had recent obedience training?” posted one potential buyer, georges21.
Okay. This is hysterical. And this is awesome.
In Romans 8:28, Paul says, “We know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.”
Amen.
But has it ever occurred to you that this “working for our good” isn’t something God does TO us, but THROUGH us?
The first way Christ can redeem a tragedy is to transform our attitude, our outlook. Phil Johnson saw the boulder incident as an opportunity. Metaphorically speaking, this is where we answer the call into God’s higher purpose.
Which gets the ball rolling (pardon the pun) into the next phase of the “working together for good.” God wants us to step out in faith based on that outlook. To work together with him for that good. Phil launched the online auction. “YOU start turning this around,” God says. “And I’ll meet you there.”
Which paved the way for the miracle. Phil couldn’t have predicted the ridiculous generosity. He couldn’t have foreseen what a chord this would strike in the online community. Phil couldn’t have performed this miracle. All he did was open himself up to a shift in perspective and then act on that new perspective.
Where in your life do you need a miraculous intervention of God to work something nasty out for your good? What shift in perspective might get the ball rolling? What act of faith could pave the way for your miracle?