Beyond any doubt, when I was a kid the toughest teacher in the 6th grade at my elementary school was Miss Butcher. When I was in the 5th grade, I was so afraid that I was going to get her as my teacher the next school year. Everybody said that she was really hard.
On the first day of school I found out, with horror and fear, that my teacher, sure enough, was going to be Miss Butcher. Her name said it all. Butcher.
I was so frightened. I was so terrified. And believe you me, she was tough. Very tough. Our class had to read and then read some more. We had to work and study. She never put up with any foolishness. That was the year that I started going bald. She was that tough.
Guess what I found out several years later? I found out that somebody near and dear to my heart had visited the principal’s office earlier that summer and made a special request to the principal for me to be in Miss Butcher’s class. Guess who made that visit? My own mother. I couldn’t believe it.
But after it was all said and done, I realized that she did the right thing because Miss Butcher was a really great teacher. She was the best. Even though I didn’t want it, I had unseen resources working behind the scenes to help me. It is a lesson that takes a long time for us to learn: good mothers look out for us.
If that is true for mothers, it is infinitely, immeasurably true for God. The Apostle Paul summed it up in the most beautiful way: “All things work together for good for those who love God.” (Romans 8:28)