A fierce tornado destroyed his home. Finally, when the rains stopped and floods subsided, he returned to look at the damage. All had been destroyed. His home was gone. His belongings had been washed away. There was little more than the foundation and piles of rubble.
But as he stood at the site, dazed and discouraged, he noticed something shining in the midst of a pile of debris. As he looked closely at the glimmering object, he discovered it was a large piece of gold bullion. He did his best to find the owner but to no avail. No one knew where the gold came from or who it belonged to.
After waiting for weeks for an owner to come identify the gold he was told by his attorney and the police department to keep what he had found. What the flood destroyed and took from him also brought him wealth.
Many of us have stories that are similar to this one. What we once viewed as a tragedy turned into a triumph. What we once believed was a trial and time of testing eventually turned into a gracious gift of God’s grace as He protected us from being destroyed by the Enemy. Beethoven, the great musician lost his hearing but became a great composer and his music still lives. John Bunyan was thrown into prison and forgotten for years. But through his adversity he glorified God by writing Pilgrim’s Progress.
Fanny Crosby lost her sight but wrote over 6,000 Christian songs. “We went through fire and water,” wrote the Psalmist, “but you brought us to a place of abundance!”
By Michael A. Guido, D.
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