The Gifts We Don't Want

     I am behind on my devotional reading, as I usually am when I've been on vacation, especially a month long one.  It's always a delight to settle back into a routine that brings peace and comfort.  
     So, in settling in with my Daily Guideposts 2010, a devotion from May 26 (Okay, I was already behind when I left on vacation!) really made me think and I felt an urge to share it that stayed with me as I performed other tasks this afternoon.  Finally, I said Okay!  I will share it now!

     " No one can receive anything except what is given him from heaven."  JOHN 3:27 (RSV)

     The writer askes this question:  Did you ever think about the many gifts you've been given that you didn't really want and would have refused if you could?   Some were glorious, crucial, and necessary.  Some were dark...leaving dark threads behind...like illness, injury, betrayal, financial worries, wild children, trying times with a spouse, problems at work.
     What if these were all sweet, quiet gifts that we just don't see from the right angle?  What if all these things made me a harder worker and gave me a gentler, humbler soul?  What if everything I thought was a pain was actually a present?

     Dear Lord, would You help me see the grace of the gift a little more?  Because here I am, sighing at prayer time again.   BRIAN DOYLE, paraphrased

     We are taught to praise Him in the good times and in the bad times.  To me, since God works everything together for our good, this means that there is also good in the bad times.  Even if I can't see it, it doesn't mean it isn't there.  I can't see God and He is there.  I believe in Him and and I believe what He says.  So, when a dark gift presents itself, the first thing for me to do is pray, confess, and thank Him and ask for deliverance.  I also ask Him what I can learn from the experience.  Then, I focus on listening.  I search the scriptures.  I seek godly counsel.
     This also seems like being grateful for unanswered prayer, when I think of the many prayers I have offered up over the years.  Had they all been answered...oh, my goodness, the misery I would have lived through by now!