November 17 -

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” - Proverbs 3:5-6

A friend and I was talking about the times in our lives that we had felt a failure – the mistakes we had made, but thinking about it since, maybe it's the best thing that could have happened to us! Sounds illogical, but at the time we intended one thing and it turned into another, better option.

I came across an article written by Robert Hillyer in “This Week”. He tells the joke about a man who invented a stove that didn't work, but was just right to use as a wine-cooler in the summer. Then there was the New England eccentric who sent a strange cargo of warming pans to the West Indies of all places, and made his fortune when the locals discovered that the pans with their long handles, were perfect for cooking in a hot climate. After all, Columbus aimed at India and found America.

That made us feel a lot better, to know we're not the only ones to aim for the goose and hit the gander!

Day after day this occurs over and over again. Someone loses a job they have set their hearts on. Had they got it, it would have prevented them from taking a better one. The wrong book comes home from the library, and a new field of interest is opened up.

Robert knew of a college student who absentmindedly wandered into the wrong classroom and was so interested in the subject taught, took it up and made it his career. It's no surprise that someone so absentminded would become a professor.

TheApostle Paul knew all about this: “For what I do, I do not recognize as my own action. What I desire to do is not what I do, but what I am averse to is what I do” - Romans 7:15

It really is a fact that half the things that go wrong in life, surprise us by turning out all right. Talk your plans through with Lord, and you won't go far wrong.

“Father I Place Into Your Hands”, today's music. Click on the picture to listen.