A man wandered through the desert alone. He had lost his way. Even worse, he had no food or water. The poor traveler spent about two days and nights without anything to eat or drink.

Finally, he came upon a tree. A sign of life! Sure enough, nearby was a spring of clear water! He eagerly quenched his thirst. Then he approached the tree, scouring it for even a little fruit. Sadly, try though he might, he didn’t find even one piece of fruit.

He glanced back to the spring, and his eyes caught something he hadn’t noticed before. On the ground just beside the water lay a small bag, left by some former traveler.

The starving man picked it up. He could see and feel the small, round lumps from its contents. Overjoyed, the man gave thanks to God. Obviously, the bag was filled with peas! Even a small amount of food was priceless at a time like this.

He quickly opened the bag…disappointed to see his mistake.

It was not peas at all. It was pearls - valuable pearls, worth a large sum of money…but useless to someone in the middle of nowhere, desperate for food.

The poor fellow knelt down, begging God to help him.

Before long, he noticed a man mounted on a camel, rushing toward him. Arriving on the spot, the rider was elated at recovering his lost bag of pearls.

Fortunately, the owner of the pearls was also well-equipped for his journey. Taking compassion on his famished companion, he gave him bread and dates. He even let the exhausted traveler ride his camel.

Glad to be of such help, this Good Samaritan remarked:

"Here we see the good providence of God. He caused me to forget my bag of pearls that I might, by returning to the spot where I left them, be instrumental in saving your life."