Jewels #9 (June 30, 2008)
My Jewels #9
"And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up MY JEWELS." (Malachi 3:17)
To all my dear grandchildren,
We remember the incident of the Christian man who was the only one saved from a wrecked vessel after a storm at sea. He found himself cast upon a little island, and by great effort got certain materials together and managed to make a little shelter from the equatorial storms. He waited day after day praying God to send a ship to rescue him, and he used to go down to the shore of the little island and wave a signal, just a piece of his clothing, every time he saw a ship passing in the distance, but some way or another they never saw him.
One day as he was cooking his dinner, he noticed a ship some distance away and hurried to the shore, earnestly praying that this time they might see and come to his relief. He waved frantically, but they went by, until at last the little ship was almost lost to sight. Then turning to plod his way back to his little hut he was astonished to see that it had burst into flames.
He had left some embers, and the wind had set the place on fire. Everything was burned, and then when at last he stood there utterly distressed, not knowing where he would be able to gather sufficient material to build another shelter, to his amazement he saw that the vessel was headed right for the island.
As they neared the shore they sent a little boat for him and took him on board. He asked, "Did you see my signal?" "Your signal!" they said; "Yes, we saw your smoke, and so we came to rescue you." God had answered his prayer, but not at all in the way he expected it, and so, some day when we get home to heaven, we shall see that may of the prayers we thought God had not heard were answered in His own wonderful way.
"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."
(Isaiah 65:24)
