When your hut is on fire

When your hut is on fire

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up into the sky. He felt the worst had happened and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, ‘God! How could you do this to me?’

Early the next morning he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him!

‘How did you know I was here?’ asked the weary man of his rescuers.

‘We saw your smoke signal,’ they replied.

[It’s easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn’t lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering.]

+ reprinted from “The Divine Messenger: A contact with Divine Infant Parish”