The Perfect Mistake

My Mother's father worked as a carpenter. On this particular day,
he was building some crates for the clothes his church was
sending to orphanages in China. On his way home, he reached into
his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. When he
mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what had
happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and
fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His
brand new glasses were heading for China!

The Great Depression was at its height and Grandpa had six
children. He had spent $20 for those glasses that very morning.
He was really upset by the thought of having to buy another pair.
"It's not fair," he told God as he drove home in frustration.
"I've been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your
work, and now this."

Months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in
the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that
supported him in China, so he came to speak one Sunday at my
grandfather's small church in Chicago.

The missionary began by thanking the people for their
faithfulness in supporting the orphanage. "But most of all," he
said, "I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You
see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage,
destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate.
Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing
those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I
experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were much
in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff
removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses wedged between
two blankets.

The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then,
still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: "Folks,
when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been
custom made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of
that."

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the
missionary surely must have confused their church with another,
they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be
sent overseas. But sitting quietly in the back, with tears
streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the
Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

There are times we want to blame God instead of thanking him!
Perhaps it is something we ought to try more often, "Thank you,
God, for not allowing my car to start this morning." He may have
been saving your life from a car accident. "Lord Jesus, thank you
for letting me lose my glasses; I'm sure they'll be put to good
use or there is a lesson to be learned."

I have to remember this in these times of trial with my own
family.

May GOD bless your week. Look for the perfect mistakes.

God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. - Phil 4:19

-- Author Unknown