Edna’s Story

Is God in control of our world--even when bad things happen?

Read Edna’s story and you decide. I don’t know how else to explain it except for God.

On a business trip to Florida last month I met Edna. She was the hotel’s breakfast lady. Edna got up at 4 a.m. so the hotel guests could have breakfast from 6-9 a.m.

When I saw her the second day I thanked her and told her she was doing a great job. We chatted for a while and I discovered she was a Christian.

On my last morning at the hotel Edna said, “You know, God works in mysterious ways.” I’m always interested in how God works in other’s lives so I asked what she meant.

Edna said she recently bought a small used purse at a hospice store. But then she lost it at the grocery store. Sadly she had just cashed her paycheck and the cash was in the purse.

When she arrived home she discovered the purse was missing and called the store immediately. But no one had seen it or found it.

Of course she had to replace her driver’s license and credit cards right away. It was a hassle, but with identity theft such a problem she had to do it.

Two days later the store called. They found the purse. It was folded up in a shopping cart and just discovered when a customer used the cart. Everything was intact. Even the cash.

Edna realized she had tucked the purse under her arm and it fell in the cart as she put the groceries in her car. Determined to avoid a repeat, Edna went out and bought a larger purse.

As she transferred the smaller purse’s contents, she heard change jingle in it. But when she looked the purse was empty. Upon further investigation she discovered a zipper pocket in the purse with an open side seam. The change had fallen through and was under the purse’s lining.

When Edna reached in and pulled the change out she was surprised to also see a class ring.

She called her son and he found a woman’s name on the inside of the ring. After checking on the Internet he found the woman in New York. So he called and spoke with her assistant.

When her boss came in the assistant said, “You just received the strangest call from Florida!”

Returning the call the woman said the purse had been her mother’s. She thought her mom lost the ring almost 20 years earlier. After her mom died she was sure it was gone forever.

Edna's conclusion: “If I hadn't lost that purse, I never would have found the ring!”

Why do bad things happen to good people? Sometimes so God can bless others and us!

Even the Jewish Patriarch, Jacob, had to learn this. After a series of seemingly unfortunate events he complained in Genesis 42:36, “Everything is against me!”

But if you read the rest of the story you discover what Jacob learned: God was blessing him! It just took a while for him to see it. That’s because God’s schedule is often different than ours.

And the same is true for everyone who trusts in the God of the Bible. Jesus never fails.

In Jeremiah 29:11-13 God speaks through the prophet and says to his people, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Listen--either God is in control or there are an amazing amount of coincidences in our world.

Will you trust God? He is good. All the time. Even if things don’t make sense now, they will later. Why? Because God is faithful and he’s not going to lose his reputation on you or me.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!