FOODFORTHOUGHT

THE PERFECT MISTAKE
Author Unknown
August 31, 2009


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 it's height and Grandpa had six children.
He had spent $20 for those glasses that very morning. He was 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 lying on top.

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."

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