Can You Recognize a Blessing in Disguise?

~~ Hebrews 11:1 (NIV84) ~~  Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

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by Carley Cooper

Photo Credit:  Microsoft Office Copyright Free Images

God often talks to me through the things I read.  Today it was devotional messages in my email.  I bet you didn’t know that God has email, did you?  I got two emails this morning that spoke to me about something that’s been bothering me for a long time.  I realized that I’m stuck on this and God wants me to move on.

Uh Oh!  Now What?

Lynn Cowell, with Proverbs 31 Ministries in an article called When I Stray, talks about  how she said something that accidently made one of her friends look bad.  She stressed about it, feeling guilty.  Basically she didn’t think before she spoke and then felt terrible about it.  In the end she turned to God, and then to her friend for forgiveness.  She received it from both and her friendship was left intact.  But what about those times when we don’t get forgiveness from a friend?  What then?

Another devotional message I received was by Mary Southerland of Girlfriends in God, and was titled Doubt your Doubts.   Mary starts out talking about how we are so willing to accept man-made things even though we don’t understand them, yet we find it difficult to accept stories of miracles God tells us in His Word.  This is because of our lack of faith in Him.

God Will Help You Climb the Mountain

Mary says: 

God does not promise to remove the mountain or that we will even understand the mountain. However, God does promise to help us climb the mountain and He does promise to climb it with us. We must make the continual choice to fix our gaze on God and our glance on the circumstances. When doubt comes, reject it.

That’s when I realized that I am stuck on this situation that’s been bothering me.  You see a number of years ago in my BC (Before Christ) days, I said something to someone in an email that was meant as a joke.  However, it wasn’t received as a joke.  Not only that but this private conversation was shared with three other people.  They all took offense to what I said even though three of them were not involved.  I lost four friends.  One of them called me and gave me a nasty run down one side and up the other that left me with nightmares for months.  I’ve wanted to fix things with these people for a long time.  I think a lot about it.  I recently reached out to all of them hoping that we could move beyond the past as being more mature, and more forgiving.  I wanted them to see that I forgive them, and hoped that they forgive me.  I was rejected.

God Does Not Waste Anything

I’ve been trying to climb this mountain for a long time by myself.  These people are all what I call ‘worldly Christians’.  They claim to believe, yet they don’t live the life, read their bibles, go to church, or have a relationship with God.  Sometimes the relationships in our lives end for a reason.  I know now that I was stuck on trying to fix a situation… alone without God… when He wants me to let it go and move on.  If / when these relationships are meant to be fixed is up to Him and will be done in His timing.  God wants me to surround myself with believers who can support me and help me on my journey toward Him.  Going back into these relationships would mean surrounding myself with worldly attitudes.  Granted I hope that somewhere along the line I have planted a seed in them.  If so, it’s up to Jesus to help it to grow.  It’s out of my hands now.

I’ve been trying to hold on to relationships that God wants me to let go of.  It’s a hurdle in front of me in my path toward Jesus.  I have to let it go or I will be separated from Him.  Sometimes what seems like a bad situation is actually a blessing in disguise.  Keeping faith during the tough times is hard to do.  Letting go is hard to do.  Sometimes it’s a necessary step in order to go higher on the mountain.  We can’t reach the summit if we don’t trust God, have faith, work hard, and put up with some falling rocks along the way.

Let’s Pray

 ~~ Dear God ~~  Wonderful, graceful, Heavenly Father.  So often I try to climb the mountain by myself because I don’t have enough faith that You can help me get to the top.  Thank you that You never give up on me, or leave me stranded on the side of a mountain.  Please help me to see the blessings in every situation; and to let go of unnecessary baggage so that my journey up the mountain is much more enjoyable and filled with blessings.  In Jesus name, AMEN.

Now It’s Your Turn

Thoughts?  Questions?  Want to share your story?  Ask for prayer?  Please consider sharing in the comments section; even if the link you clicked to get here was on another site.  (If you’re on the homepage, click on the post headline, and scroll down to find the comments section.)

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