It’s the first
of the month. For many of you (us), this means your next Social Security check
has or will arrive soon or be deposited into your bank account. Are you aware
that you owe your Social Security check to a rickety, wobbling chair? Here’s
the story. It was a rickety chair that allowed the New Deal to happen. Go back
to the 1930s. The United States was deep into the Great Depression. The
national unemployment rate hit 24.9 percent. People were hungry, lining up for
blocks in major cities to get a cup of soup. Franklin Roosevelt, who had just
been elected president, was speaking at a rally in Chicago. In the audience was
Giuseppe Zangara, an anarchist who was only five feet tall, but ten feet tall
in his heart. He blamed all of his myriad problems on capitalists and
politicians. He didn’t know the president from Adam, but the misguided soul
thought that he was responsible for all of his sordid problems. Zangara bought
a five-shot .32-caliber revolver and got ready. Zangara, a short man, was no
taller than Zacchaeus, but rather than climbing a tree, he stood on a chair to
get a better view. He climbed up on the chair, raised his pistol, took aim, and
just at that moment, the chair wobbled. His shot went wild, and tragically, the
mayor of Chicago, who was shaking hands with Roosevelt, took the bullet instead
and later died.
If Roosevelt
had been shot and killed, his conservative running mate, John Nance Garner,
would have become president. Most historians agree that Garner would never have
brought in the sweeping reforms FDR did. If that chair hadn’t wobbled, our
history would have been quite different. You never know. Perhaps Congress would
have passed a different form of Social Security. The point is that you never
know how something as small as a wobbly chair might change the course of
history. The Bible reminds us that “The human mind plans the way, but the LORD
directs the steps.”
(Proverbs
16:9). Even in the tiniest details of life, God’s hand is at work in ways we
may never fully understand. Life is full of moments where small, unnoticed
events have huge consequences. A single conversation, a brief delay, or even a
shaky chair can alter history. The same is true in our own lives. Our actions,
no matter how small, can shape the future in ways we cannot imagine. —Timothy
Merrill HomeTouch 11/2/25
[2 Corinthians
9:8] “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always
having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good
work”.
After many
years of ministry, I’ve learned two important things. First, God’s servants are
totally dependent upon the grace of God. God’s grace or favor provides far more
than forgiveness. God shapes and molds us into the kind of people that He
wishes us to be.
In Philippians 1:6 Paul wrote, “…being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…” Yes, God expects us to use the talents and abilities He gives us, but we should never forget that every good gift comes from Him (James 1:17). Paul urges us, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12–13).
Second, we are wholly dependent upon the kindness of
God to provide for our needs and the needs of His ministry. God does not send
us into His vineyard empty-handed and ill-equipped. God’s grace abounds so
that we have all sufficiency in all things at all times for every good deed.
When faithful Christians ask, God answers; when they seek, He helps them find;
and when they knock, the Lord opens the door (Matthew 7:7-11). God truly
answers prayer and supplies all our needs.