Samuel Brengle was a worker with the Salvation Army in Boston. As he passed by a saloon, some men threw a brick that hit his head. Brengle nearly died and spent eighteen months in recovery. During that time he wrote a little book entitled Helps to Holiness. Thousands of copies were published.
After he was able to begin preaching again, people would often thank him for the book. He would respond by saying, “If there had been no little brick, there’d be no little book.” His wife saved the brick and had Genesis 50:20 engraved on it: “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.” (They Found The Secret by V. Raymond Edman)
In God’s economy there are no accidents, no coincidences, no random events. Ever so often we get hit in the head with a brick (Literally or metaphorically) by God’s providence. Our “brick” may be loss of job, health, reputation, friends/family, or any of a thousand things. As a child of God everything that happens to you is controlled perfectly by God… without exception… for His glory and your ultimate good (Conformity to Christ).
In everything God wills and accomplishes good in the lives of His children (Romans 8:28-29). Regardless of what others attempt to accomplish, only what God wills is the result. No matter how painful or difficult what we experience is, God always makes sure that His plan for our sanctification takes place. As one preacher said, “Nothing bad has ever happened to me. Evil, yes. Bad, no. That is Romans 8:28.”
Has a “little brick” hit you in the head recently? If so, work toward the “little book.”