Blessings in Disguise
Blessings sometimes show up in unrecognizable disguises. ~ Janette Oke
I have contemplated this quotation for several days. Perhaps because of its brevity, I sensed it required longer consideration. Maybe, because I know only a bit of the author's writing and have found it rather simplistic and trite, I decided I was being unfair. Either way, deeper truths have emerged while I considered this brief definition.
Blessings sometimes show up...
... and when least expected. How many people anticipate a blessing to appear as ...
a child's life-long developmental disability
a grandparent's memory loss
an incorrect prescription dosage?
But, they do. I have experienced each of these blessings.
Sometimes the blessing is
... unrecognizable ...
or never perceived. It could be blindness from excruciating pain or slanted perception or outright refusal to consider the good in a situation.
Or maybe the word itself is allusive.
Is it better to say some blessings are unacknowledged, unappreciated, misunderstood, taken for granted, or unbelievable?
Sometimes God, in His wisdom,
... disguises ...
or cloaks the blessing. He may be protecting the identity of those He calls to provide ...
an anonymous donation
a prayer
a rescheduled event to accommodate another person's appointment
a stepping-aside to allow someone else an opportunity
a simply "being-there"
wisdom to know when to walk away
a hug
respect for personal space
a word of encouragement
silence
These are the blessings easily misinterpreted as underwhelming or overstepping. Yet, many alter-egos hiding behind masks would appear more unbelievable than the super-hero feats accomplished in the public's eye. It is not about who they are anyway. That is the greatest blessing of all!
lingering in God's shadow as one of His faithful sidekicks