She took the short cut to the shops, taking a path through a small park. It was just starting to be spring and crocus bulbs were sprouting their purple tips to the world. She had walked this path many times before but this time something happened. A small event with a huge message for her. She just happened to look down, as one does, and she saw a weathered old chocolate wrapper on the ground. It stopped her in her tracks. For no reason.
And yet she had stopped. The chocolate paper was not complete. It had clearly been there for a while. In fact, at first glance, it looked as if a weed had wrapped itself around it. As I said, for no reason, this caught her attention. She bent down and looked further. The weed was not being a blanket to the wrapper. In fact the wrapper had allowed the weed to grow through a hole in its surface.
And just as suddenly she saw things differently. She saw why it was there. Suddenly she saw that this innocent chocolate wrapper represented sin and the weed growing through represented Jesus Christ.
Now why should that idea be so clear in her head? It was a gestalt. She suddenly saw the simplicity of the message that she had heard many times in church, yet never fully grasped. And, as so often is the case, she was not aware that she had not fully grasped this.

It took a milk chocolate bar wrapper to tell her. Except it did not. This message had come from God. He finds ways to penetrate through our minds and down into our hearts, simply because He wants us to know who He is and why he wants our attention. Who would have thought? The message was simple. All we need to do is accept God’s gift of salvation and he grows through us to make us better. To overpower the weeds within us.

It was like putting on clean specs. The day continued to show her new things. She was watching a robin in her garden when a cat pounced. She got up to chase the cat away and the robin flew off safe. It had got her attention. How many times had she just let events play out by themselves? Why was today different? She took the rubbish bins down the path for the refuse collection. She did this every week but this day she stopped again. She knew the bins would be empty. She was certain. There it was again – a connection – she suddenly saw very clearly that we can be certain God will keep His promises to us. We have that certain hope in eternity. She knew this and yet that day she was suddenly feeling certain, not just thinking it. Her mind was touching her very heart
The chocolate bar wrapper was actually just litter but God takes the litter within us and disposes of it in His special way. We are free from the power of sin if Christ is in us.
There is always a reason. God was at work.