We once owned a supermarket. After several years of running a corner grocery store it was a challenging experience. We did love the corner store. It was where our girls honed their skills at cleaning parking lots, cleaning shelves and finally running a till. And it was where I learned about washing floors without getting down on your knees.
The large pail on runners was first filled, then, the enormous mop dunked and squeezed gently with a metal device that you pulled on. It didn’t take long to get the hang of it. Then the fun began. The whole store had to be sloshed first, then washed with soapy water, then rinsed clean. This was all done after 10:00 p.m. after the store closed.
Our parking lot was gravel so you can appreciate the job was a messy one.
The move to the supermarket changed all that and instead I found myself helping a bit in the bakery and cleaning out freezers that had malfunctioned.
The variety of things in a supermarket boggles the mind. One day I nearly fainted when one of the match boxes I was gently placing on the shelf, fell to the floor and burst into flames. I have been very careful with matches ever since. I store mine in a glass jar.
People don’t use matches very much anymore but I use them to light the candles on the birthday cakes for my Bible Study group. Yes, we celebrate birthdays and of course there is cake. We are Presbyterians and we love to eat. Any event is a picnic.
As I lit that candle on the cake I thought about the match and how it can’t accomplish its objectives until it is struck against something rough. Otherwise it just sits in its container…immobile and unproductive.
I wonder if that’s why we are often brought closer to God when times are rough. Maybe we have been sitting in our comfortable container for too long.
I don’t believe God sends us trouble but I sure do know that he is there when trouble comes our way. So, if you are having a rough time right now, remember that there often is illumination after those rough patches. God can make even the troubles of today work into blessings for tomorrow.
