BY JACK WARD
As Postmaster, I was in the package delivery business for 37 years. People either love or hate getting packages. But almost always they contain a treasure inside. The No. 1 phrase I have heard when someone gets a package is “I don’t remember ordering anything? Should I open this?” They act scared to death to open the package. I can understand that because once you open it, you are usually responsible for the postage to send it back. A lot of people get a package and say, “What has he/she ordered now?” And they take it home with great dread, like they are carrying home a dead skunk.
Ann Graham Lotz, the daughter of Billy Graham, recounted receiving a package. It was a plain box, and she noticed it was from her mother. She opened the box and found a nice basket stuffed with paper. She looked at the basket and thought, “Why did Mother send me this basket? It’s just an ordinary basket and the postage to mail it cost more than the basket is worth.” She threw the paper away and placed the basket on her desk and called her mother to thank her.
“Mother, thank you for the beautiful basket. But why did you spend so much on postage for this basket?”
Ann’s mother asked Ann, “Didn’t you open the paper?”
“No,” Ann replied.
Ann’s mother went on to explain, “In the paper was a ring made from an artifact of the temple at the time of Esther. It was given to me as a gift by the government of Jordan.”
Ann was shocked and said, “Oh, Mother, I didn’t know what was in the package. I threw the paper away. But I can dig through the garbage and I will find it.”
Ann hung up the phone, dug through the trash can, and found the paper. Inside, wrapped very carefully, was the beautiful, priceless ring.
Ann said, “I didn’t like the basket, and I didn’t like the way it was packaged. I didn’t realize that there was a treasure inside.”
We do not like some things because of the way they are packaged. But we must be careful not to throw away the package because we do not like the way it is wrapped. There could be treasure inside. That is the way God does us sometimes. He sends us a package of sickness, tragedy or trouble. We do not like it and we do not want it. We do not like the way it’s wrapped and do not want anything like that from God.
But when God gives us a package of pain or sorrow, always remember that there is a treasure inside. What is the treasure? It is Jesus: His peace, His presence, His joy, His glory and His answer to trouble.
Maybe you broke your leg and it spared you from going on that plane that crashed. Maybe you lost your job, but God has a better one coming your way. Do not be afraid to take a package from God.
I heard a speaker say this during a message: “We think life is falling apart but it is only falling into place.” How true that is.
Listen to Pastor Jack’s sermons every Sunday morning at 10:30 on 98.9 WSIP FM. Check out the Tomahawk Missionary Baptist Church Facebook page and our website at tomahawkmbc.com.