The Druggist's Mistake

 •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 6
 
The life-long friend of a young Christian was employed as a druggist, but he was far from sharing in his friend's faith. Every time the latter spoke to him of God, the young chemist made fun of him. Accordingly the friend decided never to touch upon the subject again in their conversations, but to confine himself to ordinary topics. He said: "In the future, old man, I shall not trouble you with these matters, because you only make light of them. I have only one word more to say before closing the subject, until you care to re-open it—a word from God to you. It is a verse from the 50th Psalm: `Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me! Don't forget it!' " But the other just laughed.
Some time after this the young chemist was on night duty at the pharmacy, when a sudden and violent ringing at the door roused him from his sleep. A little girl had brought a prescription which the doctor had just given to her mother who was very ill.
Annoyed at being disturbed, and still half asleep, the young fellow weighed out the drugs, mixed them, stuck the label on the bottle, and handed it to the child who ran off with it as fast as she could.
After she had gone he proceeded to put the various bottles back in their places when—horrors! what had he done? He had used the wrong bottle! Instead of a soothing drug he had put a violent poison into the prescription! If the patient took any of it, death was sure and a death of agony!
But unfortunately he did not know the little girl, nor where she lived. If only he could find, her! He rushed out of the store into the dark streets. He ran to the right, then to the left, but in vain. The darkness had swallowed her amid the streets of the great city. Besides she seemed in such a hurry, perhaps at that very moment she was giving her mother a draft of the poison he had prepared!
A cold sweat covered the poor fellow. He was at his wits' end... when suddenly his friend's verse flashed on his memory: "Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.”
He hurried back to the pharmacy, threw himself on his knees and.. prayed. O, he did not make any fun this time. In his terrible anguish he besought God to help him, for He alone could.... What! Another ring? He rushed to the door and to his unspeakable amazement saw the little girl bathed in tears and holding the neck of the broken bottle!
"O, sir!" she sobbed, "forgive me! I ran so fast that I fell and broke the bottle.”
We can imagine the feelings of the young man as he took the prescription in hand again and prepared it correctly. But the gratitude of his heart did not vanish like a fleeting, though profound, impression. Conviction had pierced his soul; he realized how unworthy he was of such goodness from God, whom he had ' so long slighted and even mocked.
It would be natural that he should tell his friend what had occurred and should of his own accord re-open the subject he had closed.
He soon learned to know the Savior whom his friend knew, and was enabled, too, to realize the last part of the verse: "And thou shalt glorify Me.”