I returned home from Home Depot this evening ready to fix something in my house. I put the box on the kitchen counter and with tools in hand I opened it all ready to go. And what to my wondering eyes did appear but nothing. I bought an empty box.
I can just see it now. Tomorrow I will go back and try to return the empty box. Will they really believe me? Or will I get the raised eyebrows of skepticism? Will the lady at the return counter say to me, “Mister, you can’t return an empty box.” And I will say, “But it was empty when I bought it.” And she will say, “Mister, how could you be so dumb as to buy an empty box?” “Didn’t you notice anything suspicious when it weighed so little?”
Life does have its trials and tribulations. Actually we would all be blessed if this were the worst thing that ever happened to anyone. Unfortunately we know this is nothing compared to the real tragedies that fall upon people. Unlike some primitive cultures that used to think if something bad happened to you it was because you had done something bad. We know better. In this world good and bad happen to the good and bad.
The promise we have to sustain us through the real trials of life is “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” I Peter 5:10.
Written by Roger Bothwell on October 17, 2002
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453