Activated Reflections: All Things Work Together For Good

       
                                      

I once read a story that happened many years ago about a fishing fleet that went out from a small harbor on the east coast of Newfoundland. In the afternoon a great storm came up. When night settled down not a single vessel of all the fleet had found its way into port. All night long wives, mothers, children, and sweethearts paced up and down the beach, wringing their hands and calling on God to save their loved ones. To add to the horror of the situation, one of the houses caught fire. Since the men were all away, it was impossible to save the home.

                When the morning broke, to the joy of all, the entire fleet found safe harbor in the bay. But there was one face which was a picture of despair--the wife of the man whose home had been destroyed. Meeting her husband as he landed, she cried, "Oh, sweetheart, we are ruined! Our home and all it contained was destroyed by fire!" But the man exclaimed, "Thank God for the fire! It was the light of our burning house that guided the whole fleet into port!"

Read this inspiring story by Les Brown, adapted::

The sound of Mother’s eggbeater drew me to the kitchen. There I found her at work, and began to watch. This was my chance to find out what she put into that chocolate cake of hers that made it so good. There was baking chocolate, of course. I reached for a crumb that had fallen off the bar and put it on my tongue to dissolve. It was bitter. I surveyed the other things on the table. There was a cupful of sour milk.

Yuck! Surely Mother wasn’t going to put that in the cake. But she did, along with some of that awful baking soda she had given me the last time I had a stomachache. What kind of cake could she possibly make out of such things? Mother smiled and told me to wait and see.

She served the cake that evening after dinner. It looked as good as usual, but I was going to be careful. I tasted a little crumb, then a larger crumb, and finally a whole bite. It couldn’t have been better. I forgot all about the sour milk and baking soda, and asked for another piece.

Life is not all sweetness. There is much that is bitter, and we often cannot believe that anything good could come from it. Certainly all things are not good, but all things work together for good. This is God’s promise to those who love and trust Him. Day by day He is making us what He wants us to be, and He never puts anything into our life by mistake.

God is Awesome!!