Bill Kelley of the Christian Stewardship Ministry recently shared this story we hope will bless you…

My grandfather worked as a carpenter. On one particular day, he was building some crates for the clothes his church had collected to send to orphanages in China. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses. They were gone. As he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what had happened. The glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and had fallen into one of the crates which he had nailed shut.

His brand new glasses were now heading for China! With the Great Depression at it height and six children to support, Grandpa had spent nearly $20 of very hard earned money that very morning to buy those glasses. He was upset at the thought of having to scrape enough money to buy another pair.

“It’s not fair,” he told God as he drove home frustrated. “I’ve been very faithful in giving my time and money to your work, and now this.”

Months later the director of the orphanage came to the United States on furlough. He wanted to visit all the churches that were supporting him in China, and grandfather’s small church in Chicago was one of his first stops. The director thanked all the people for the faithful support of the orphanage. “But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent recently. 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 no place to get another pair. Not only could I not see well, I was experiencing headaches every day. So my coworkers and I were much in prayer about a pair of glasses. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the lid of one crate, 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 part of that blessing!”

The people were moved by the story and happy for the miracle of the glasses. Surely, however, the missionary must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas. Sitting quietly in the back of the church, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way. Now his vision was clearer. What had seemed so unfair and negative, God had turned to something blessed and positive. Oh, the wonder of His mighty deeds!