But God, Where are the Blessings?

[James Griffin]

But God, Where are the Blessings?

Often after having done everything “by the Book”, we sometimes tend to wonder what happened to the promised blessings. We pay our tithe, we support the missionaries and the ministries of the church and even do our best to keep the commandments. Yet it does not appear that we are recipients of everything promised. “Not a complaint God, just trying to understand why what I see does not seem to measure up with what I expected”.

Once a man, who had just those thoughts, encountered an angel. Curious to better understand the mysterious workings of God he begged the angel to be allowed to follow him for a day and watch the interactions of the divine and temporal first hand. The angel agreed but with the stipulation the man could only watch but say nothing for the 24 hour period. Puzzled by that condition the man nevertheless agreed to the terms and began his journey.

After walking down a country road the midday sun began to take its toll. The pair came upon a group of men digging a ditch to bring water to their village. The men happened to be on break sitting under shade trees and drinking cool water. Approaching the men they asked for a drink of water and if they could share the shade for a few minutes. Instead of granting them hospitality the men cursed them, threw branches and rocks chasing them down the road. The man and the angel walked on and just as they were almost out of sight the angel turned, waved his hand and instantly a ditch appeared parallel to the one the men were digging which provided the irrigation their village needed. The man was somewhat confused by this turn of events but honored his vow of silence.

That afternoon the companions came across a small farm house. It was occupied by a widow and her teenaged son, who proved to be most gracious hosts. Even though they had meager provisions they were cheerfully shared with the travelers. The woman showed them the small farm, and especially pointed out their prize cow. She was effusive in her praise to God because they were able to take the milk from that cow and churn butter which the son sold in town. Those monies not only helped with their necessities but on rare occasions they were even able to treat themselves at the stores in town. The man and angel were given shelter for the night, and in the morning the woman even packed a lunch for them. Traveling a mile or so down the road the angel turned waved his hand and to the man’s shock the woman’s cow fell over dead.

The twenty four period of required silence was passed, and the man virtually exploded. The man went on to rant about the sheer injustice of all he had seen. God appeared to be arbitrary and capricious, rewarding the wicked and punishing the kind hearted. After patiently listening and allowing the man to calm down the angel explained that the man felt that way only because he had an incomplete understanding of what he had seen. God who has perfect knowledge, had commanded the ditch be completed near where the men were digging because He knew there was buried treasure in the path of where the men were digging and the men would have been wealthy. So what the man thought was a blessing was actually a curse. As far as what happened with the widow, the angel explained that if the son had tried to milk the cow on that particular morning, it would have kicked him in the head killing him instantly. So the death of the cow which appeared to be a curse was actually a blessing.

While this story is a parable, its truth stands nevertheless. We are often tempted to question God’s provision and blessings based on what we see and understand, not realizing just how imperfect our understanding is. It takes a level a faith and maturity sometimes just beyond our grasp to take His promise at face value- “All things work together for the good of those who are called according to His purpose”. And sometimes the blessings are there all the time, just not in a form we recognize.