Working Together for Good

I spoke to a dear friend last night.  In the past six months she has gone through a divorce, a move and a job change.  Now, she is  losing her father to stage four cancer.  It is devestating.  The blessing?  Earlier this year, before his diagnosis, my friend moved back to the area where her father lives.  Instead of living half way across the country from her father, my friend is now able to visit with him daily.  She's there for the good days and the bad.  She is able to be there for her mother and for her father.  These are moments she may not want to live but I am certain she will never regret the fact that she was able to be there instead of hearing about the struggles over the phone.

I have another friend who was in a car accident earlier this year.  She was on her motorcycle and hit by a drunk driver.  At first, it was doubtful she'd live, then function normally, then walk.  Today she is back at her dog sitting business though she only takes five dogs (!!!) at a time.  The tragedy and following blessings are easier to see.

I read reports about famine, devestation in Haiti and all kinds of difficulties and I'm left wondering where the blessing is.  In my own situation right now, I find the blessings raining down.  Once we began to pray for a stable family life, R was able to find a new job quickly.  Our move is going so much better than I ever expected.  For me, God is good.  What about for others?

Then is occurs to me that the questions I've been getting from friends indicate that my situation may not look like a blessing on the outside.  I am moving for the tenth time in twenty-one years.  My husband left a perfectly good job and is making us all uproot ourselves.  We are going to a rural area, even more rural than the one we are in.  I have four children.  I homeschool.  Many people looking at my life from the outside would judge me to be bereft of blessing.  They probably even judge me to have lost my mind. 

The difference seems to be in perspective, not outside looking in but blessed and seeking blessings.  I know that God has a purpose and a plan for me and that God's plan, no matter what it is, is for good.  God has enabled me to see through the eyes of one that is blessed and when I use the blessing vision I've been given, I am able to glimpse a bit of the vast goodness God desires for each of us.  The blessings aren't always found at first glance but they are worth searching for.  The effort of recognition makes the blessings all the more valuable.  God's plans may not be mine and I may not understand God's plans but I am a part of those plans.  I have chosen and been chosen and that is for good.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.   - Romans 8:28