Once upon a time, there was a lady who had a riding lawn mower that got broken. Her father, because he was trying to be good and kind, set about to fix the machine only to find that it needed a part that held the blade in the mower. It wasn’t a terribly special part: only nine inches long, 1.5 inches wide, and half an inch thick, with three holes in it.
The nice people at the Mower Parts Store (not the actual name of the store) said the part would be about $60 and it would take “a couple of days” to get here.
The father, although trying to be good and kind, was also “fiscally prudent” and found a way to obtain the part for about half that cost, –with the same “couple of days” to arrive at his home in the tiny village of Amboy via the United States Postal Service.
The USPS dutifully logged each and every step on its tracking system as the part made its way from Cottonwood, Alabama:
A shipping label was created at 2:02 p.m. on September 9.
The USPS acknowledged being in possession of the part at 3:31 p.m. that same day.
The part left the Cottonwood, Alabama, post office at 4:11 p.m., only two hours and nine minutes after the shipping label was created!
At 9:20 p.m. on September 10, the part arrived at the Montgomery, Alabama, Distribution Center. And four hours and 40 minutes, at 2:00 A.M. on Sept 11, the part was rapidly speeding to its next destination!
At 3:34 p.m. on September 11, our little part arrived at the Chicago Illinois Regional Facility and in only 4 hours and 11 minutes, at 7:45 P.M., was headed to Saint Paul, Minnesota!
Sure enough, the part arrived in Saint Paul at 2:46 A.M. It rested there for not quite eight hours and was shipped to the Minneapolis Minnesota, Distribution Center at 10:34 A.M. It arrived in less than an hour, at 11:22 A.M.
In six short minutes, it was directed and shipped to the Mankato, MN Distribution Center, arriving at 1:22 p.m. on September 12.
Then, it seemed like our little part took to wandering, as it showed up at the Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, USPS Facility for processing at 6:31 A.M. on September 13. Had it been spending Friday night out on the town approximately 45 miles west of Mankato with other little lost mower parts? We shall never know, because then the USPS shipped the part BACK to Saint Paul, where it arrived at 9:25 P.M. on September 13!
Apparently, our little lost mower part spent Sunday repenting of its wild Friday night and showed up, once again, at the Mankato USPS Regional Destination Facility at 3:45 A.M on Sunday, September 15. The father discovered a tab on the USPS tracking website that said “Intercept this Package,” which told him he was not the first one to have a lost and wandering package out in the great mail universe. Since the part was so close by now, he surmised that further complicating the situation might make it worse rather than better. He decided to wait one more day…
And, sure enough, the long-travelled part was finally delivered to the Amboy, Minnesota, Post Office at 8:49 A.M. on Monday, September 16!
The father picked up the part, held it aloft in triumph, installed it, and the young lady is now once again able to mow her lawn.
Yes, that part showed up about five days later than the original estimate for delivery, but if we believe that we do not serve a God of coincidence, maybe there was a reason and a purpose that little lost part showed up when it did instead of being on time. Maybe God had a plan, and maybe He’s under no obligation to reveal it to anyone right here and right now.
The moral of the story is that we were all lost and wandering at some point in our lives. Our heavenly Father knows where we are every step of the way, (and even though He could intercept our package) He elects to answer our prayers according to His wisdom rather than our wishes –even when we are not aware of the depth and richness of that wisdom.
Thank GOD for that!
Today’s Praise
1 Corinthians 13:12
Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. (NLT)
Great message!