Best Gifts

12/12/2017

I Was Thinking…

Some of the best gifts received are not recognized as gifts when they arrive.
During World War II, a U.S. Marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific Island. Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be captured or killed.

As he waited, he prayed, “Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you.” After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy beginning to draw close. He thought to himself, “Well, I guess the Lord isn’t going to help me out this time.” It was then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of the cave. As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him, all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave. “Hah,” he thought, “What I need is a brick wall and the Lord sends a spider web. Doesn’t God care that I am about to die?”

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready for his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of the cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while. “Lord, forgive me,” prayed the young soldier, “I had forgotten that in you a spider’s web is stronger than a brick wall.”

Some of the best gifts received are not recognized as gifts when they arrive…a baby in manger, for example.

Always Thinking…