USING DIRT FOR A LADDER

“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God  meant it unto  good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people  alive. “–Gen. 50:20
This is what Joseph said to his brothers who had sold him into slavery. It is hard to imagine that he could be so loving toward them after they had subjected him to such great suffering, but he refused to let them determine what his character would be. Reading that account reminds me of this—–
Dr. Mike Minnix said, “The late Jerry Clower told a story about Uncle Versie  Ledbetter who had a mule named Della. One day Della fell into a cistern Uncle  Versie thought he had covered up but hadn’t. Uncle Versie had a problem. There  was his best mule down at the bottom of that cistern and no way he could get the  mule out of there. He didn’t want her to stay down there and starve to death, so  he decided he would get a shovel and cover her up. It would be cruel, but it  wouldn’t be as cruel and inhumane as to let Della starve to death in the bottom  of that deep cistern.Uncle Versie took a shovel full of dirt and threw it down  into the cistern and every time a shovel full of dirt hit old Della, she’d shake  the dirt off and stomp it. It wasn’t long before Della had shaken off enough  dirt and stomped it so that she was high enough to jump out of the cistern.In  this life we will have a lot of dirt thrown at us. Criticism, hardships and  trials are bound to come our way. We can react negatively to these situations,  or we can act in faith and trust God to use the problems as a blessing in our  lives. When the world throws dirt at you, use it for a ladder. If you don’t  handle it properly, the dirt could form your grave! “