A friend of mine was going to have her family over for dinner on Christmas Eve, and then they were going to her in-laws for a Christmas Day lunch. She was in charge of bringing desserts for both parties. She is a very organized and detailed person. A couple of weeks before Christmas, she called her favorite bakery where she had ordered desserts many times before and ordered seven pies: two pecan, two pumpkin and three lemon meringue. She had to work Christmas Eve morning, but in the afternoon, she was going to drive with her mother to the bakery to pick up the pies. That day, a snowstorm unexpectedly came in. The roads were very difficult to travel. The whole city was frozen over, but she and her mother braved the bad weather. They finally made it to the bakery just before they closed on Christmas Eve. She walked up to the counter, gave the young man her receipt and said, "I'm here to pick up my seven pies."
He said, "I'm sorry, ma'am. We don't have any more pies."
She said, "That's impossible. I ordered these two weeks ago. I've got to have these pies for my Christmas dinners."
He said again, "I'm sorry. The weather was so bad that we didn't think anybody else would come in, so we sold all the pies."
She was very upset. She started telling her mother how wrong that was and how she was going to call the owner, how that was ruining her Christmas, on and on.
During all of this, another customer had come in. She overheard everything that was going on. This lady walked up to my friend with a big smile and said, "Hey, it's Christmas. Why are you so upset? I'm going to pray that you find your desserts."
My friend rolled her eyes and thought, "Lady, I don't need prayer. I need pies!" She thanked her for praying and got back in the car. Her mother said, "Why don't we call this other bakery?" It was across town. The daughter said, "Oh, Mom, we'll never get across town in this bad weather. Plus, they're not going to have any pies left late on Christmas Eve." She finally talked her daughter into calling. She called the bakery and asked if they had any pies, and the lady said, "Let me check." She came back on the line and said, "All we have left are seven pies: two pecan, two pumpkin and three lemon meringue."
Let this be a reminder to you this Christmas and all year long, you don't have to get upset when things don't go your way. Quit letting little things steal your joy. Every day is a gift from God. Life is too short to live negative, offended, bitter or discouraged. Start believing that God is directing your steps. Believe that He is in control of your life. Believe that He has solutions to problems that you haven't even had. If you will stay calm and stay in faith, God promises that all things will work out for your good—as good as Christmas pie!
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him..." (Romans 8:28, NIV)