Genesis 49:1-28
Psalm 89
1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1
Mark 7:24-37
Sons are blessed out of order? Why has God forsaken David? If the blessings from God are only for the Jews, why did Jesus heal the Gentile’s daughter?
It has taken me a lifetime to (grudgingly) accept that everything in God’s world is not necessarily going to be ordered to my liking, or in a way that I deem appropriate. Which is a very good thing for humanity, actually.
If it had, the many blessings I have received would not have occurred. Nor would the losses I have sustained. And yet, often my losses have led to more spiritual growth and a more understanding and kinder heart than my gains.
The great thing about getting older, though, is that I can look back and see how many of God’s plans for me have been long in the making. My arrival in the US started in Connecticut because God knew I couldn’t have dealt with New York City right away. My alcoholic recovery was started at least eight years before I got sober. And I needed to get sober so that I could become a part of Ascension (there was never another church for me.) And so on.
So, if life seems to be dealing you a tough hand right now, just wait a bit, because God is probably preparing you for the next right thing to move you forward. Or perhaps for a blessing you are not even expecting or of which you might dream.
As Paul writes in Romans: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”(Romans 8:28)
