Once while I was shopping before Christmas I found a lovely white cardigan sweater with white embroidery and made a mental note to return to the store after Christmas to see if it was still there and on sale. As it happened, I did return, and to my surprise and great pleasure, the sweater was there in my size, and price reduced. In the drive home I silently prayed, “Thank you,, Lord, for such a sweet blessing, especially when I’m not in actual need of a sweater, but I will certainly enjoy wearing it.”

The thought crossed my mind, “The sweater is not for you!” Then I thought, “What a random idea; for whom could it be intended? I don’t even know who wears my size.”

Immediately I remembered that my sister-in-law, who had been a widow for a few years, with two boys still in school, was my size. I knew, too, that Ruth never spent money on herself, as her husband had left several debts. In addition, I knew that her birthday was very soon, though we usually exchanged only cards or a phone call.

There was now no doubt in my mind concerning who should receive the sweater, but I knew that my big challenge would be whether or not I would go ahead and actually send it to her. Eventually, sending it won out and I got it in the mail in time for Ruth’s birthday.

She called to thank me, and I knew I was happier than I would ever have been wearing the sweater. “The king will reply, ‘Truly I tell you whatever yo did for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine you did for me’” (Matthew 25:40). This experience left me wondering how many times I ight have missed the message by being too intent on my own desires and gratifications. The pleasure and gratitude I felt, so far out-stripped the pleasure I might have had wearing the sweater, that I believed that God was giving me a new window into my own self that would sustain me better than all my shopping trips.

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:3)

I didn’t feel rebuked for buying the sweater, but only a deep reminder of God’s purposes on earth and an adjustment of our relationship that conveyed His joy to me.

Love in Him,

Prue