ONE NEVER KNOWS
If any of you are tempted to feel sad or depressed
during this Christmas season due to a lack of resources or the loss of a loved
one, you must read and share the following story written by an unknown author.
It will surely inspire, encourage and bless you.
A pastor and his wife were given their first assignment,
to reopen a church in Brooklyn, New York. They arrived in early October,
thrilled beyond measure to be entering an exciting new phase of ministry.
However, as they entered the church, their enthusiasm faded when they
found the building to be run down and in dire need of restoration and repair.
But right then and there, they set a goal to have all the necessary work
done in time to have their first worship service on Christmas Eve.
They worked diligently, repairing pews, plastering
walls, painting, etc., and on December 18th they were well ahead of schedule,
just about finished. Nevertheless, on December 19th a terrible winter
storm hit the area and lasted two full days.
On the 21st of December, the pastor went over to
inspect the church edifice. His heart sank when he found that the roof
had leaked, which caused a large area of plaster to fall off the front wall of
the sanctuary behind the pulpit. The pastor swept up the mess on the floor, and
not knowing what else to do, he headed homeward, planning to postpone their
first service. On the way home he noticed a local business sponsoring a
flea market for charity, so he decided to stop by.
One of the items on sale was a beautiful, hand-made,
ivory colored, crochet tablecloth. It was truly an exquisite work of art,
with striking colors and an ornate cross embroidered at the center. The
new pastor thought, ‘It’s just the right size to cover up that hole in the
front wall of the sanctuary!’ So he bought it and quickly headed back to
church.
By that time it had started to snow. An older
woman hurried along the street, trying to catch a passing bus, but she missed
it. The pastor invited her to wait inside the warm sanctuary for the next
bus, which was due to arrive 45 minutes later. The grateful woman sat in
a pew and paid little attention to the pastor while he gathered a ladder and
wall hangers to mount the gorgeous tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The
pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and how perfectly it
covered the entire problem area. Just then, he noticed the woman walking
slowly down the center aisle, wearing a shocked facial expression.
“Pastor,” she inquired, “Where…where…did you get that
tablecloth?” The pastor related the story of his recent purchase.
Then the woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the
initials “EBG” were present there, and they were. These were actually the
initials of that very woman, who had made the tablecloth herself, 35 years
previously while living in Austria.
The woman explained that before the war she and her
husband were well-to-do citizens of Austria. When the Nazis arrived, her
husband sent her to safety, and planned to follow the next week.
Unfortunately, she was captured, detained in a camp, and never saw her husband
or her home again. The pastor offered to give her the tablecloth, but she
insisted that he keep it for the church. He said, “Then I will drive you
home; that is the least I can do.” The woman lived on Staten Island and
was only in Brooklyn for the day doing a housecleaning job.
Christmas Eve arrived, and what a wonderful service
they had! The church was nearly full, and the Holy Spirit moved upon the
hearts of all in attendance. At the close of the service, the pastor and
his wife greeted everyone at the door and many people promised to return often.
One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the
neighborhood, continued to sit in one of the pews with a blank stare on his
face, and the pastor wondered why he had not left with all the rest. The
man asked, “Where did you get the tablecloth on the front wall? It’s
identical to one my wife made years ago when we lived in Austria before the
war. Could there be two tablecloths so much alike?” He told the
pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for safety with plans
to follow her, but then he was arrested and placed in a concentration camp.
He never saw his wife or his home again for all the 35 years in between.
The pastor smiled inwardly and asked the gentleman if
he would accompany him on a ride. They drove to Staten Island, to the
same building where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He
helped the elderly man climb three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment,
knocked on the door and witnessed the greatest Christmas reunion one could ever
imagine! What a miraculous story of the matchless grace and marvelous
love of our God!
Prayerfully consider this. None of this
heartwarming story would have been possible without that terrible winter storm
and the resultant hole in the church sanctuary! My friends, very often
our apparent storms are divine appointments in disguise that will ultimately
bless us and others.
ONE NEVER KNOWS WHAT GOD HAS IN STORE! So please,
do not ever surrender to doubt or despair. It is my prayer that your Christmas will be
endowed with the fullness of love, peace and joy that is the precious gift and life-legacy
of OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.
Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed and
please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET YOUR SOON COMING KING.
Maranatha!
