It was a very windy day, and I had a lot of small branches and twigs in piles in different parts of the garden.

I had pruned lots of bushes and it was time to gather up all the cuttings.

I decided to use my barrow to transport those branches to a corner of the garden.

The problem was the wind.

When I piled up a few branches on the barrow the wind was blowing them off again because it was so strong.

It was then that I had an idea which seemed a bit silly at first but had method in the madness.

I loaded a large heavy stone onto the top of the pile of small branches and twigs to keep them from being blown off the barrow.

I was then able to transport the load safely to the corner of the garden and tip them there.

Although the barrow load was a lot heavier than it would have been without the big stone, it was worth the extra work of pushing the extra weight.

It was a blessing in disguise.

I thought of how we might get a blessing in disguise brought about by circumstances outside our control.

Many years ago my daughter, while driving my Volvo estate car, veered of the road, rolled down a small embankment and ended up in a ditch, upside down. She was unhurt and managed to get a window open and crawl out onto the grass beside the ditch. The water was flowing freely through the upturned car. She could have drowned if she had not been able to get out.

Help arrived as passing motorists came on the scene and someone brought her home.

When I went to the scene of the accident and saw the car in the ditch, upside down, my first reaction was shock. It looked so humiliating for the lovely estate car to be on its roof with wheels up in the air.

Then as I got closer and looked in through the open window where my daughter had escaped from the car, and saw the water running through where she had been and could have died, but didn`t, a silent voice spoke to me.

I knew it was God because I had entered a relationship with Him before I was 10 years old, by accepting Jesus as my Saviour, and knew His voice. It was a silent communication to me. He said, “I am taking your car, but I am sparing your daughter, but never forget, I didn’t spare My Son, when he went and died on the cross for your sins.”

At that point in my mind’s eye, I saw Jesus with the crown of thorns on his head. Blood trickling down his face mingled with the spittle of those who spat on Him. He was in a mess: “So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they struck Him with their hands.” (John 19:1-3 NKJV)

My Daughter only had a wee cut on her finger and a bit of mud on her as she crawled out of the car. God had spared her life.

I said, thank you God for sparing My Daughter and thank you God for not sparing your Son so that we could be saved.

The Blessing in Disguise for me is that in loosing the Volvo I gained an encounter with the God of Heaven and earth which outlasts any vehicle which will ultimately perish with age.

Can you think of a time when you had a Blessing in Disguise?

Donnie Black