There is an old illustration that comes to my mind this morning. Come along with me to a third grade classroom. There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.
The boy believes his heart is going to stop; but, he puts his head down and prays this prayer, “Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat.” He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered. Panic begins to immerge.
As the teacher is walking toward him, a class mate named Susie is carrying the class pet goldfish’s bowl that is filled with clean water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap. The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is Saying to himself, “Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!“
Now, all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up the mess around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful! But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else, his newest best friend, Susie.She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. “You've done enough, you Klutz!'
Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, “You did that on purpose, didn't you?” Susie whispers back, “I wet my pants once, too.”
May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good. Each and everyone one of us will find ourselves at a place where we’re going through tough times. But, God is getting ready to give blessings of His grace to you in a way that only He can. God's dream is that we become a little grace factory...because blessings and grace…will change lives.
Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and those who I care deeply for, who are reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of Your love and power. Holy Spirit. I ask You to minister to their spirit at this very moment. And, where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through Your grace. Where there is need, I ask you to fulfill their needs. Bless their homes, their families, their finances, their goings and their comings. Amen.
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