In September 2024, a hurricane affected the area where I live.
As I was watching the rain, I saw a tree fall that just barely missed hitting my balcony and fence in the back of my home.
Once the rain had cleared, I discovered that five trees had fallen, and another one was leaning against my neighbor’s home.
Given the amount of devastation that this hurricane caused throughout the area, it wasn’t until late April 2025 that the trees behind my and my neighbor’s homes were finally cleared.
This past week, as I was surveying the tree stumps that remain, I realized that the trees going down were a provision of God’s care for me in a way that I truly needed last fall.
And yes, it has something to do with the kittens in the picture above.
I’ll explain this as we study 1 Peter 1:3-9.
How Do We Know God Cares?
A Study on 1 Peter 1:3-9
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.[1]
At the time Peter is writing his epistle of encouragement, his audience was scattered in many directions because of the persecution of their faith in Jesus Christ.
Verse three opens with the exclamation “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” List the reasons Peter shares to support his exclamation in the rest of verse three through verse five.
How do these reasons help you know that God cares about you?
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.[2]
What trials have you experienced, either in the past or right now, that challenged your faith in God and His son Jesus Christ?
According to verses six through seven, what is the purpose behind the trials God permits us to go through?
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. [3]
Where should our focus be according to verses eight to nine?
How Do We Know God Cares?
Personal Application
The weekend of the hurricane was roughly two months after my husband tragically ended his life. When I saw the tree fall that morning, I panicked. Many worst-case scenarios immediately began streaming through my mind.
What a relief it was that the tree only damaged a plant hanger as it fell.
The next day, my sister, who had come for a visit along with her husband, one daughter, and two grandchildren, thought she saw some kittens playing in the downed evergreen tree.
In the next couple of weeks, I confirmed my sister’s sighting. I had a black momma kitty and four little tuxedo kittens sheltering in my postage stamp of a backyard.
The downed tree provided them with excellent shelter.
I observed the momma kitty bringing a dead squirrel daily for them to feed on, besides nursing them. My plan was to just let them be and let God take care of these creatures.
But then during the last days of October I noticed momma kitty was no longer part of the situation. On the morning of November 1st, the four kittens came running towards my voice with intense meowing when I spoke to them from my balcony.
That evening, after I got home from work, they came running towards my voice again. I sensed they were hungry, so I put some of my cat’s food out on the back step, then went inside and watched.
This is when I noticed I could see their ribs, which meant they were on their own. Momma kitty was definitely no longer helping them.
I began spending time with them each morning and evening to befriend and capture them for re-homing.
At one point, I set up a pet carrier with a tarp and some towels because of the expected rain. After doing so, I realized I had set this shelter up that was now teaming with life in the very spot that my husband had taken his final breath.
In my mind and heart, I now realize that God’s care for me was to have a tree fall in my backyard so that he could send me four little kittens to befriend and care for at a time of great grief. Spending time with them gave me joy each morning and evening.
New life in abundance exactly where a precious life had recently ended.
Only a merciful God who cares deeply for a grief-stricken individual could orchestrate something this specific.
Amazingly, on Thanksgiving morning, the kittens followed me inside my house and into the kennel I had prepared for them without me having to traumatize them.
On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, a local rescue group agreed to take the kittens four since my adult cat had gone into hiding and quit eating as soon as she realized they were in the kennel. It took her a full twenty-four hours after they were no longer in the house before she resumed her normal behavior.
Although I miss the kittens four, I knew I could not care for them long term.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
His mercy is so great that we can look forward with a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls, even while we experience trials. And His mercy is also so great that even while we experience trials and wait for the ultimate fulfillment of our salvation, He displays his intimate care for us.
How has God shown his intimate care for you?
Who will you share your story of God’s mercy with this week?
Warmly,
Barbara Lynn
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Pe 1:3–5.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Pe 1:6–7.
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Pe 1:8–9.