Grumbling Heart

Does God care about us even when we grumble and are ungrateful?
I had been a Christian about a year when I found out the answer.

In 1990, I moved to Hawaii to start a new life. The Islands and people were beautiful and welcoming. Working as a nurse at the local women and children’s hospital, I found my job exciting and fulfilling. Instead of being grateful for these blessings, I grumbled to God. My health crashed almost as soon as I arrived. The doctors told me to cut my work hours. That was  impossible. It was more expensive than I ever imagined living on the Islands.  The housing arrangements I'd made didn't pan out. Instead of living with friends, I had to take an expensive studio apartment. And to top everything off, I was on my way to work on Easter Sunday.

Oblivious to the beautiful sunrise coming over the mountains, I felt a black cloud cover my car and me. Suddenly,  the car jerked and swerved.

Just great, I thought. A flat tire! Now what am I going to do? “What are You going to do, God? This whole mess is your idea!” I yelled toward heaven.

Before I could get out of the car, a pickup truck pulled up behind me. An unexpected sense of peace filled me. Everything was going to be okay. A local native Hawaiian man got out of the pickup. He looked over the damage and easily changed the tire for me. I told him he was an answer to prayer.

“No,” he said. “Just trying to show you some aloha.” Aloha. A local word that means hello, goodbye, love, peace and caring.

As I watched the pickup truck drive away, I realized God had sent me an angel. Psalm 91: 11 “For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways.” An angel to show a grumbling heart how much God cares for me.