The Carpenter and his Glasses

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 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 the 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!

I have to remember this in times of trial...