Sometimes “blessings” are not blessings at all
At least not in the way we think of blessings.
For one thing, we sometimes call something a blessing when it’s nothing more than the result of only our own efforts.
For example, let’s say one wins a lottery. Is that a blessing? Does that come from God? Well, someone bought the ticket, didn’t they? And winning a lottery might indeed be a temptation in disguise. A temptation to quit trusting God to meet our needs.
That new job that bring lots of money and important people into your life might well be a temptation disguised as a blessing.
A number of years ago the president of a company in our town approached my husband consistently about coming to work for him. It was more money and a better “title”.
My husband will admit easily that the $$$$$$$$ was what attracted him. We were both on board with his decision. It looked like a really good opportunity. Before he started there, his new boss wanted to take us both out to dinner at a really nice place. This next sentence is one hundred percent true.
Within a couple of hours into that evening, we both knew we had made a HUGE mistake. Yep, that fast. The man was a monster. I mean that. He was so rude to the wait staff it left our mouths hanging open. We knew this was not just bad behavior this was who he was.
We were so shook-up my husband actually humbled himself and called his former employer to see if his position had been filled yet.
Just because a door opens doesn’t mean you should walk through it.
We were stuck. That door was closed.
That year was the worst year of our life. We couldn’t do anything “after” working hours, because there was no “after” working hours. Even on vacation, my husband was supposed to check -in every day. We sure learned some lessons.
This man was eventually fired due to some very crooked business practices. My husband left that company because the whole atmosphere was now “sour”. He started all over with a new job and a salary one-third less than what he was making even before that job. In other words, we took a giant step backward.
We both believe to this day that this was not just a bad boss but a truly “evil” person. (There are lots more details that might make you better understand this but that would take way too long.)
We most definitely felt God’s discipline for a couple of years.
And all that stress led to my husband’s heart attack within a year or so of this newest position. But God blessed us beyond measure and that job turned out to be the best company he ever worked for. That was the job that enabled us to visit much of the world because of his frequent flyer miles that paid for my tickets.
Jesus was not immune to temptation himself. All that Satan tempted him with during the wilderness experience were also blessings in disguise. Jesus could have had a completely different life but he recognized that these so-called “blessings” were nothing more than temptation disguised in beautifully wrapped packages. When you think about it, we don’t know how long Jesus took before he answered Satan. Remember the Bible says he was “tempted as we are. ”
Don’t get me wrong. We are blessed by God in many, many ways. God can do the spectacular. Certainly, he can do more than we can even dream. And these are genuine blessings. We don’t want to get paranoid here.
But let’s look at how our “blessings” come about. Who was the real author? How much of it is because we wanted it and we manipulated circumstances to get what we wanted. And to make it all look spiritual and everything, we call it a “blessing”.
Learn from our experience.
Just because something LOOKS good, doesn’t mean it IS good and it DOESN’T mean God is behind it.
Just like it’s important to know who brings about our trials, it’s important that we label our good fortune for what it is. Don’t call it a blessing if it didn’t come from God.
Why?
If we confuse the two, we either cast blame on God for the trials we bring on ourselves or we give God credit for something so we can justify what we want and we step outside of His will. It’s important to know the source.
What do you think? Have there been times you’ve called something a blessing that was anything but? Would love to hear your experiences. (as much as you want to share, of course. 🙂 )
God bless and I hope you have a good day.
