The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but it seemed hopeless.
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.
But one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened - everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger.
"God, how could you do this to me?" he cried.
Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was 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.
The lesson is that it's easy to get discouraged when things appear to be going badly; especially when they seem to go from bad to worse. But sometimes it takes the destruction of what we have to get what we really need.
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