Encouragement
Look For The Blessing
When my daughter died I was plunged into the deepest pit of shock and despair. I was hurting. The memorial service was beautiful, but of little or no solace. The pain, the sorrow, the hurt was like a gaping hole cut through to my bleeding heart. It was at the gathering after the service, when all our friends surrounded us, that God sent the Comforter to me and shared his expectations as well as the depth and width of his love.
John 14:26 - But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
For you see, during that afternoon, when I was hurting so much from my loss, people kept coming up to me and telling me how they understood and sympathized with me because they had also lost a loved one. Then they would often go into great detail about their loss and their hurt. I thought at first that they were trying to take my mind off my own pain, but that wasn’t the truth. They didn’t have advice for me on how to cope with the loss. No advice on what to expect for the next few days, months, or years. They were consumed with telling me how they too were still struggling to cope. They didn’t know what else to say. They had no way to ease my grief. It was as if somehow in sharing and helping them with their grief I could find a way to help myself with mine.
The enlightment and the comforter came to me while I was talking with this very quiet, very shy, lady friend of mine. It was late in the day when I finally sat down outside on the bench next to her. We’d had no opportunity to talk earlier and she wasn’t one to force her way into a group to talk to me. We started talking and immediately she went into great detail telling me about her brother’s death, funeral, and her loss.
It was then that, like a great beam of light hitting me, I understood that she and the others that day had been coming to me all day long for solace and help with their losses. It’s hard to believe that blessings are showered down on you when a loved one dies, but it’s true---if you will only look--- you will see and find them. I finally understood. Oh, what great humanity God created in us and with his love, that we can help each other share the worst moments of our life together in the loving warmth of helping each other. What a great wonderful blessing! I had no idea that thought, that concept, would change my life forever. But, it did.
A peace settled over me as I sat quietly and listened to her loss and sorrow and we shared together. I offered to her my sympathy and understanding for her loss and she did the same for me. I felt wonderfully blessed to be able to help her, even in my pain. It was quite a day. It was also only the beginning.
After that, I began to look for the blessings to come my way in the best as well as the worst times. I also began to look for a way to pass the blessings along. Since that day, I’ve been able to help others and pass along the blessings and what an honor that is. Recently, I had a long discussion with a man whose three-year-old son was fighting a losing battle with incurable cancer. He was distraught but trying to be brave. He went on to explain that his company allowed him to work from home so he could stay with his son. When his son started chemotherapy and his hair fell out, this father shaved himself bald to match and they shared many wonderful moments together. It was extremely hard for him to see that these were blessings in the midst of his pain and agony. We talked softly, he listened, and I prayed. I’m not sure if he really understood, but I prayed for the comforter to help him see as he did me.
Soon after that, another man sought me out to talk when his son was diagnosed with leukemia. And then there was my close friend whose son poured gasoline over himself in a friend’s kitchen and set himself on fire. He died in the hospital just after his parents arrived in time to tell him they loved him and say goodbye. I helped them through the funeral and the gathering at the house later. I shared with them to look for the blessings, if not now, then look back later, but look. I was blessed with being able to help and share and it helped me too. What blessings all around.
Did you really think God wouldn’t provide something, some way, for his will to find, help us, show us his love and his wish that we love one another as he loves us. Did you think in the worst moments of our life he wouldn’t be there to help us, to show us his love for all of us? We just need to stop looking at ourselves in such moments and look for the love from others and give it back. You might be surprised who God sends to you for comfort and understanding and the blessings all that entails for everyone.
John: 14:16 - And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.
It’s truly amazing the blessings that come your way if you only look for them. Regardless of the circumstances, even smothered in grief and suffering at the loss of a loved one, look for the blessings and you will find them. I hope you can understand as you read this. It’s often difficult or impossible for people who are suffering to believe and understand that there could be blessings attached to their situation. They may not listen, but if they do it can be so rewarding for them and for you. Some people that I’ve shared this understanding with have even gone back in their memory and realized and recognized that there were blessings there for them when they were suffering and in such anguish. If only they had seen them then.
Look back. Look at the horrible, brutal, pain filled death of Jesus. Look at the blessings he bequeathed to us in that great selfless act. So many. So wonderful. His life is our example to follow. We look for and find the greatest blessings in his life and in his death. We should follow this example as well and look for the blessings in all aspects of our lives, good and bad. And a final blessing that we may not often think of or remember, but is so important and wonderful.
John: 16:7 - Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
I am so blessed to share this with you. Please, look for the blessings. Look to give them and look to receive them! It will make your life rich beyond belief— even in the most terrible time you ever have to face. Look to God the Father, his Son, and the Holy Ghost for the blessings and the comfort.
Revelation 21:4 - And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
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Thank you for your gentle reminder of our Father's blessings. Shalom and Amen!!!