The Overturned Soup
At Rebbe Reb Elimelech's Shabbos table, young Mendel cried out in alarm at a gesture whose meaning only the Rebbe understood.
It is told that before Rav Mendel was known as a tzaddik, he sat at Rebbe Reb Elimelech's Shabbos table like any other chassid. One Shabbos the shamash set down the Rebbe's soup. The Rebbe lifted the bowl, turned it over and let the soup flow across the table.
Rav Mendel suddenly cried out in fear. "Rebbe, they will put us all in jail. Please stop at once." The others nearly laughed at such strange words, but they held back in front of their Rebbe. Rebbe Reb Elimelech turned to the young man and said gently, "Be calm, my son. No harm will come to us. We are all right here."
Then the Rebbe explained. In that very hour, a powerful government official had been writing out charges against the Jews, and he was determined to have the king seal them. He had reached for the sand to dry the ink when the Rebbe spilled the soup. In his confusion he picked up the inkwell instead and poured ink across the page, ruining it.
Turning to Rav Mendel, the Rebbe said that this young man had seen it all because he had lifted himself so far above the physical world that he no longer felt the room around him. He had imagined that the Rebbe had overturned the inkwell, and he cried out in fear of what would follow. Only then did the chassidim understand how high their young friend had risen.
Source: Ohel Elimelech 185
Sometimes what looks like a mess, a spilled drink, a missed train, a plan that falls apart, may be part of something good that you cannot see. Today, when something small goes wrong, pause for a breath and say to yourself, I do not know what this is protecting. Then handle the cleanup calmly. And if you meet a person whose behavior seems odd, consider that there may be a reason you are not yet able to see.