The Small Bottle

Here is another one of my young childhood stories that has made an impression on me. Without a little divine intervention, things could have turned out quite differently for this little boy.

“What have you done with this?” my dad demanded. The look of concern was clearly visible on his face. He had been cleaning the label on the small brown bottle I had given him. “I just opened it and sniffed it.” I replied innocently. I was too young to comprehend what was buried under the dirt on the label.

Our old dairy farm in Wisconsin possessed a few aging buildings. One of these had been a granary at one time in it’s life. This had been many years before we owned it, but there still remained a thick layer of old grain which had never been cleaned up. Underneath the layer, were all sorts of old tools and little boy treasures.

One day, while exploring in this old building, my brother and I found this small brown bottle buried in there. The label was covered with a dirty film and impossible for me to decipher. Curious, I removed the cap, sniffed the white powder inside, then hurried to ask dad what it was. Something seemed a little different about this bottle, perhaps it was some old medicine.

I still can see dad holding up that small brown bottle at eye level, and cleaning the label. That is when he got quite concerned over what we had done with it, and no wonder! We had discovered a highly concentrated poison which was used for rodent control in the bygone days. This bottle was very old, and had no doubt been forgotten long ago. It was very fortunate that we did not get any on our hands or inhale any of it when I sniffed the open bottle. It is highly toxic, and accidental inhalation and absorption through the skin are the main risks to humans. Needless to say, that little brown bottle was put away somewhere out of harms way.

Dad told us he remembered that old-timers used to used it to control the population of coyotes. He said that in bygone years it was possible to purchase chicken feed which contained a low dosage of this poison. The amount in the feed was too low to harm the chicken, but after feeding it that mixture for a week, the chicken was then lethal when used to bait coyotes.

One reflects back on situations like that and wonders about it all. What if I had accidentally gotten it into my mouth or inhaled it? What if my brother and I had decided to play with the white powder? Then what if no one had been around? What prompted me to take it to my dad to ask him what it was? One may never have clear answers to those questions, but I believe that God’s unseen hand plays a role much more than we give Him credit for. For instance, why did you suddenly decide to take a different route to town? Or, what made you look back just in time to swerve to avoid going into the ditch or into the path of an oncoming motorist? The prayer for protection you breathed quietly under your breath for a child or loved one, may have just been answered. We talk about guardian angels and angels in disguise, heavenly messengers sent to work His will. Of course, not every time you decide to take a different road than the usual is God helping you avoid an accident. Or every time you pray for someone that they are in eminent danger. The Word of God tells us that time and chance happens to all.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Ecclesiastes 9:11

In other words, just because we pray does not mean bad things will not happen. Or, just because I am a Christian, the Lord will take perfect care of me. No, there are the times bad things do indeed happen and we are left wondering, why.
No one of us fully understand the mind of God, but we know that no matter what happens, He is near to comfort, guide and give us rest. One should never consider himself above bad things happening to him. However, may we not fear, but trust Him with everything. May we all have a greater awareness of God’s love and protection for us.
See Psalms 121