A Modern Day Parable about Life and Trials…

Once there were two ladies: Ruthie and Sue Sue. Ruthie’s husband bought them new carpet as did Sue Sue’s husband. Both ladies were so thrilled with their new carpet that they had many friends and family over to see their new carpets and share in their excitement.

Ruthie was so pleased with her carpet, that she vacuumed it often and tried to keep it nice and clean. Ruthie welcomed visitors into her home and showed her guests her fine new carpet and they all were very happy for her. On one particular day Ruthie had some family over and during desert, a small child dropped chocolate ice cream on her new carpet. “Hmmm…” said Ruthie, as all stopped in a panic at the potential damage done to her fine new carpet, “Don’t worry. I’ll clean it up!” And off she went to get a rag. She worked for a little while and cleaned it up as best as she could, but then she decided that the carpet could wait and she enjoyed her guests. Often times, as Ruthie and her husband enjoyed guests, spills and accidents would happen but each time Ruthie took it all in stride and cleaned up the mess. Over time, Ruthie learned by necessity how to clean up all sorts of stains and spills in order to keep her carpet looking clean. And the skills that she had learned through cleaning up the spills and messes on her carpet actually allowed her to be able to help other ladies who had spills and stains on their carpets, too!

Sue Sue was so fond of her carpet that she would stand around looking at it and thinking how magnificent her carpet was and how diligent she would be to take good care of it so that it would always look as good as new. To that end, Sue Sue came up with a plan. She decided that the best way to keep her carpet clean and free of stains was to not let careless people eat on it and to not let anyone walk on it with wearing shoes. Sue Sue also welcomed guests into her house and showed them her fine new carpet. They were very happy for her. One day a guest was over and since this person was a very careful person, Sue Sue allowed them to eat in the room with her new carpet. However, her guest accidentally dropped her plate and spilled food all over the fine new carpet. Sue Sue immediately gasped and went to work cleaning up the mess. It was a nasty red spill and Sue Sue worked hard and long to prevent any possible stains to her wonderful carpet. She even forgot about her guest in all of her effort. After a while she sighed with relief as she had gotten out most of the stain, and it was hardly visible; but she resolved to be even more careful about who she let come into contact with her beautiful (slightly stained) carpet. Through the years, Sue Sue was ever vigilant and kept “would-be-carpet-stainers” at bay; but it seemed that accidents still happened and her carpet would get dirty. When those things happened Sue Sue did her best to clean the carpet, but she really didn’t have much experience with taking care of stains and so her efforts weren’t always very effective. Sometimes she would call Ruthie and ask her for carpet cleaning advice.

At the end of ten years, Sue Sue was over at Ruthie’s house and she noticed how fine Ruthie’s carpet looked. She had watched Ruthie clean up many spills and stains (even some of Sue Sue’s!) and so she wondered at how curious it was that after all of Sue Sue’s efforts to keep her carpet clean and lovely; that in the end, all of the spills on Ruthie’s carpet, along with her diligence and persistence in learning how to clean up those messes , had kept Ruthie’s carpet looking cleaner and more lovely than Sue Sue’s. She also noted that Ruthie was relaxed and hospitable to her guests, putting them at ease when accidental spills happened, rather than escalating their panic and embarrassment, like Sue Sue unintentionally did when her guests (or children) spilled on her carpet. And in this Sue Sue learned something and grew wiser. Accidents will happen, no matter how hard we work to prevent them or how well we try to maintain our carpet. The important thing is to not see the spills as something to be afraid of and hostile toward, but see them as an opportunity to grow and learn more about carpet cleaning and maintenance.

Similarly: We can desire our life to work out in a particular way so strongly that we fight against the trials and changes that God brings our way, rather than learning and growing through them. And in the end, it is the person who has weathered the storms and submitted to the Lord and His lessons, who turns out to have more peace, contentment and joy in the Lord!