Unexpected Blessings

I was thinking about this earlier today. All of the "bad things" that have happened in my life. All the things that I regret, that I prayed for and never received, that went terribly wrong. But as I was thinking about all of the horrors of my life, I realized that blessings have come from each of them.

A familiar verse popped into my mind as I considered these things and had my epiphany. Romans 8:28 says  "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." I hadn't really thought about applying it to my life before today.

The first thing I thought about was the obvious. Diabetes. How could that possibly be a good thing in my life? How could this tragic, life-altering disease help me? But I already knew the answer. This disease has made me a more responsible person from as early as I can remember. It has helped me to have compassion for others, especially the "Under dogs" or those who are different and don't fit in. It has brought me to many people that I would have been likely to avoid without this compassion and understanding. I love these people with all of my heart, and I thank God for them everyday. Because of diabetes, I was homeschooled for all but about a year prior to college. That gave me an education that put Christ at the center of everything, more time to worship and serve my Lord and time to be influenced by my family. Therefore, God gave me diabetes so that I could come to Him! I'll always pray for a cure, but I'll never detest this God-given gift that is my disease.

The second thing that came to mind was relationships, especially friendships, that have failed miserably in my life. It was in His plan for these people to let me down, and some of the reasons are being revealed to me. Members of my family and most of the people that I've put my trust in have rejected me. That had destroyed my self-worth and peace of mind. I actually prayed that God would terminate some of these relationships, but He had other plans. He has healed the friendships that He wants me to have, and restored the relationships with family members. Moreover, He has healed me of any hard-feelings and hurt caused by them. The pain that these people brought me lead me closer to God and my immediate family. Later, my pain turned to peace as I realized that everyone will fail me. There is not a person in this world that will not let me down at some point. God, however, will be eternally faithful to me. He will never hurt me. Everyone gets rejected, but God heals the broken-hearted and He definitely works all things together for good to those that love Him.

Another thing Satan threw at me was my failures. The devil constantly makes me ponder over the things that I have utterly failed at in my life. He tries to destroy my confidence and make me permanently unhappy. I can't say without lying that this tactic hasn't worked before. I'm not perfect by any means. I'm no where close to perfect. Perfection is Jesus Christ, and no one matches Him in that aspect. I've done things I am not proud of, and Satan reminds me of that every chance he gets. But I have to remember that God is using those things to further His Kingdom through me. I can't dwell on my mistakes, because God has already forgiven me of them. I am "called according to His purpose." He created me, and He doesn't make mistakes. My regrets, failures, mistakes, everything that is bad about me, He can use for His glory.

God quickly reminded me tonight that I am His, and everything I do is in His plan. I don't  have to worry about things that I have done, things that I can't do or things that go wrong. I just have to trust in His perfect plan, and have peace in knowing that all things work together for good to those that love Him. I have to remember that I am called according to His purpose, and He isn't finished with me yet. Next time I start dwelling on the unexpected things in my life that I think are curses, I will remember that they are unexpected blessings from the One who planned my life before the world began.