Advent: Thursday, First Week

December 1, 2011

Today, look at life, yours and your neighbor's  How often did our gracious God turn apparent misfortune into richest blessings!

The first misfortune that comes into my mind is Hurricane Katrina.  While I still battle with the loss and separation, there are many ways God has blessed us through the storm.  Firstly, we have learned to survive and cope.  We know what family means.  And, I think the biggest blessing we received was realizing what home means and never taking it for granted.  I can't tell now exactly what stemmed directly from the storm, but I know that I and my entire family have a completely different perspective on life because of it.  Regardless, for many misfortunes in the world, there are ways that God's love and blessings shine through.  For example, look at other natural disasters and the way people band together to provide resources and support to the victims of such events.  God definitely brings out the best in many people.

Katrina and natural disasters aside, I'm trying to think about my neighbors' misfortunes and blessings.  This is a tricky meditation for me.  I don't know if I could rightfully say that good things came out of bad situations that happened to others because it's subjective.  It might seem good to me, but they might not see it that way.  I can think of a lot of misfortunes that happened to many of my friends.  However, I feel like it's presumptuous of me to assume they've witnessed blessings in their lives through those misfortunes.  It's not to say I can't believe they've been blessed with many things: children, new opportunities, a refreshed outlook on life, an adventure.  But to say they've received those blessings through misfortunes seems unfair for me to judge.  However, if I believe in a far and gracious God, which I do, then I have faith that he will in fact -- in his own time -- bring forth blessings in our lives through apparent misfortunes.  Therefore, I do find consolation in the fact that when I or my neighbor is faced with misfortune, large or small, that blessings will come eventually through personal perseverance and a strong faith in God.  I feel like that seems overly optimistic, but I've been there.  I've had a few misfortunes in my life, and I've handled them, mentally and spiritually, in different ways.  I know from experience that faithful dedication to God's graciousness and fairness only brings about the most beautiful blessings - more than you probably could have imagined on your own.  It's truly amazing!

Recap:  Look at your and your neighbor's lives.  How often did God turn misfortunes into blessings?
1.  God has most definately brought blessings upon me through misfortune.
2.  I can't always tell if other people found blessings through their misfortunes, but I hope they do!
3.  I trust in a gracious and loving God who will bring about blessings through misfortunes in his own time.