BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE

He was at the lowest point of his life; he could not see where it was all heading. The years just seem to drag on slowly like a snail. Was this a blessing in disguise? He thought of his life and wondered, the point of living was? He had never felt so discouraged. Life seems to be passing him by, some reckon he was doubting Thomas, howbeit a believer, one at the end of his tether.

Have you ever been at that place? Where everyone seems to be having a good time, getting exciting breaks and nothing seems to go right for you? Some will tell you the pressures of life you're experiencing will yield a rich harvest for you; a double portion of blessings in your life.  Often he wondered if he was a soft touch, always bending over backwards for everyone.

 Do you ever wonder if everyone is faking it? Let's face it, life is not always beautiful it has its ups and down, its dark side; times when you have to discern the true friends from the fake ones. When you have to make the decision who really needs your help, and ensure the needy one receives the help and not the greedy one who clearly only wants to heap more upon that which he already has.

Then there is the family member whom you thought would be there for you if you really needed them, but in reality never there! Or the friend who is always present with more problems that could fill the oceans! As he thought of the life of Job and the trouble he had seen. It suddenly dawned on him that it doesn't matter how small the problem is when it affects you, it seems as if your world is crumbling.  

Job had his share of problems, it started well, the day that is, he got up that morning, prayed for his children. Job had a family seven sons and three daughters, he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, had a large number of servants, he was rich, you could say he had it all. 

Trouble came to his house one day, and in that day he lost it all; more than that, his wife told him to curse God and die, while his friends did everything to prove to him he had done something terrible; it was his fault why these things were happening to him. Have you noticed that whenever anything goes wrong, many seem to become God and remind you how you must have done something terrible to deserve it?

Thank God for the word of God, which reminds us that the enemy is like a lion, walking about seeking whom he may devour; So is there any discouraged? Cast all your care upon him for he cares for you. Any crushed by life and its problems? Do not fear God is with you, be not dismayed for he is God, and he will strengthen, help and uphold you.  Remember God never answered Job's question on why he allows suffering rather he sought to remind him of who he is.

“Who is this that obscures my plans

 With words without knowledge?

 

Brace yourself like a man;

    I will question you,

    And you shall answer me.

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

    Tell me, if you understand.

 

Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

    Who stretched a measuring line across it?

On what were its footings set,

    Or who laid its cornerstone—

 

While the morning stars sang together

    And all the angels shouted for joy?

“Who shut up the sea behind doors

    when it burst forth from the womb,

 

When I made the clouds its garment

    and wrapped it in thick darkness,

 

When I fixed limits for it

    and set its doors and bars in place,
 

When I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;

    Here is where your proud waves halt’?

With these questions directed to Job he realized, to worry about life is futile, that none is immune to stress and upset. that the rich and poor alike suffers. That the God of Heaven and earth is not only able to keep him in all situations but to turn them around in his favour.

What a wonderful blessing it was for Job, God blessed his latter end more than his beginning; his blessing was disguised by suffering. Someday it will all become clear what the purpose of suffering was. Someday we will understand it better. For God's thoughts are not ours neither is his ways ours.