I was rushing around trying to
cook soup beans and bake homemade bread for the funeral of an old gentleman who
was instrumental in starting the Church I go to in our town. His daughter told
me she went to get him from the Nursing Home for Christmas
dinner
and that all he wanted was my soup beans. He died before he could have them so
she wanted me to fix them for the dinner after his funeral.
Because it was Christmas time the florist was closed.
I was the Treasurer of the Church so I needed to go to the local grocery store
and get some fresh flowers to represent our church. I didn’t have a car and the
grocery store was over a mile away. After kneading the bread I left it to raise
and hurried off to the store. I prayed and prayed that someone would be there
that I knew, and would give me a ride home before my bread got ruined. The clerk
found me a couple dozen beautiful long stemmed red roses. As I was going to the
checkout counter a friend saw me and asked me if I needed a ride home. God is so
Good!
That might have been the end of the story, but God has
a way of allowing one thing to happen in answer to something else that is going
to happen.
About a week later I was shopping at this same grocery
store. When I came out of the store heading home someone called to me. It was
the lady that had given me the ride home. She had another lady with her so I
went back to tell the other lady how God had used this lady to answer my
prayers. After I got finished I headed in a different direction home that I
don’t usually take so I could avoid what may have been a bad situation. On this
route as I walked down the street near a second hand store,
I smelled a natural gas leak. I told a lady that worked in the store. She came
out to check it out, but couldn’t smell anything. I couldn’t either. I knew I
smelled the gas! I kept walking back and forth, back and forth, then all of a
sudden I could smell it again. Then, she could, too. She said, “You can’t always
smell it.” I figure it must have leaked out intermittently. God is so good. He
had me there at the very time that I could smell the gas as I walked by. We
never know how God is going to use us even when we are diverted from the
familiar paths we take.
MYSTERIES IN LIFE
If you could but know what tomorrow would bring,
Would you do what you’re doing or change anything?
The future is a mystery to all of us here,
But, if our lives are surrendered to God we have
nothing to fear.
Norma Wellman
butterflyblue7@frontier.com
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.