Can You Recognize a Blessing in Disguise?

~~ Hebrews 11:1 (NIV84) ~~  Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.



God often talks to me through the things I read.  Today it was devotional messages in my email.  I bet you didn’t know that God has email, did you?  I got two emails this morning that spoke to me about something that’s been bothering me for a long time.  I realized that I’m stuck on this and God wants me to move on.

Uh Oh!  Now What?
Lynn Cowell, with Proverbs 31 Ministries in an article called When I Stray, talks about  how she said something that accidently made one of her friends look bad.  She stressed about it, feeling guilty.  Basically she didn’t think before she spoke and then felt terrible about it.  In the end she turned to God, and then to her friend for forgiveness.  She received it from both and her friendship was left intact.  But what about those times when we don’t get forgiveness from a friend?  What then?

Another devotional message I received was by Mary Southerland of Girlfriends in God, and was titled Doubt your Doubts.   Mary starts out talking about how we are so willing to accept man-made things even though we don’t understand them, yet we find it difficult to accept stories of miracles God tells us in His Word.  This is because of our lack of faith in Him.

God Will Help You Climb the Mountain
Mary says: 
God does not promise to remove the mountain or that we will even understand the mountain. However, God does promise to help us climb the mountain and He does promise to climb it with us. We must make the continual choice to fix our gaze on God and our glance on the circumstances. When doubt comes, reject it.
That’s when I realized that I am stuck on this situation that’s been bothering me.  You see a number of years ago in my BC (Before Christ) days, I said something to someone in an email that was meant as a joke.  However, it wasn’t received as a joke.  Not only that but this private conversation was shared with three other people.  They all took offense to what I said even though three of them were not involved.  I lost four friends.  One of them called me and gave me a nasty run down one side and up the other that left me with nightmares for months.  I’ve wanted to fix things with these people for a long time.  I think a lot about it.  I recently reached out to all of them hoping that we could move beyond the past as being more mature, and more forgiving.  I wanted them to see that I forgive them, and hoped that they forgive me.  I was rejected.

God Does Not Waste Anything
I’ve been trying to climb this mountain for a long time by myself.  These people are all what I call ‘worldly Christians’.  They claim to believe, yet they don’t live the life, read their bibles, go to church, or have a relationship with God.  Sometimes the relationships in our lives end for a reason.  I know now that I was stuck on trying to fix a situation… alone without God… when He wants me to let it go and move on.  If / when these relationships are meant to be fixed is up to Him and will be done in His timing.  God wants me to surround myself with believers who can support me and help me on my journey toward Him.  Going back into these relationships would mean surrounding myself with worldly attitudes.  Granted I hope that somewhere along the line I have planted a seed in them.  If so, it’s up to Jesus to help it to grow.  It’s out of my hands now.

I’ve been trying to hold on to relationships that God wants me to let go of.  It’s a hurdle in front of me in my path toward Jesus.  I have to let it go or I will be separated from Him.  Sometimes what seems like a bad situation is actually a blessing in disguise.  Keeping faith during the tough times is hard to do.  Letting go is hard to do.  Sometimes it’s a necessary step in order to go higher on the mountain.  We can’t reach the summit if we don’t trust God, have faith, work hard, and put up with some falling rocks along the way.

Let’s Pray
 ~~ Dear God ~~  Wonderful, graceful, Heavenly Father.  So often I try to climb the mountain by myself because I don’t have enough faith that You can help me get to the top.  Thank you that You never give up on me, or leave me stranded on the side of a mountain.  Please help me to see the blessings in every situation; and to let go of unnecessary baggage so that my journey up the mountain is much more enjoyable and filled with blessings.  In Jesus name, AMEN.

Now It’s Your Turn
Thoughts?  Questions?  Want to share your story?  Ask for prayer?  Please consider sharing in the comments section; even if the link you clicked to get here was on another site(If you’re on the homepage, click on the post headline, and scroll down to find the comments section.)

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37 comments :

  1. Hi, Thanks for the blog where I went to the link about climbing mountains. I needed that reminder today. I'm climbing a mountain right now but I don't go alone. How much I needed that reminder. Also I like the leopard print in the background of your spark page. I hope you have a blessed day.

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    1. Thank you for the reply, and thank you for sharing with me. I'm glad you were blessed by it. I am blessed in return by your feedback. Thank you. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  2. Thanks for sharing, I neded to be reminded

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    1. Thank you for the reply. I'm glad you were blessed by it. I am blessed in return by your feedback. Thank you. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  3. WINNIE-POOHJanuary 15, 2013

    Amen. I too used to try to hold on to people; family included & was just miserable.
    I praise GOD that HE sticks closer than any friend and/or family member. Thank God for freedom to shake loose those that try to keep me & you in bondage. Hugs

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    1. Thank you for the feedback, and thank you for sharing. Many blessings to you. God is good. HUG

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  4. VETTERMOMMY2U2January 15, 2013

    Many times I've tried to go through the mountain instead of over it.

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    1. VETTERMOMMY2U2 - Thank you for sharing, and for the feedback. God is good. He won't let us climb alone. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  5. GARDENSFORLIFEJanuary 15, 2013

    Great Blog! Thanks! Hug

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    1. Thanks for reading, and for the feedback. I'm glad you liked it. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  6. What a wonderful message!
    Thank you for sharing! Hug

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    1. Thanks for reading, and for the feedback. I'm glad you liked it. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  7. DAWNDMOORE40January 15, 2013

    Yes I can! Like the time my family was really needing a little bit of money to cover something in the checking account, and all the sudden a dividend check from State Farm showed up in the mail on the very same day! Praise God!

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    1. Thanks for reading, and for sharing. I'm glad you liked it. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  8. LAURAKOHORSTJanuary 15, 2013

    Well done

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    1. Thank you so very much. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  9. Carley, I love your writings. I am relying more and more on God for everything. I cannot do this healthy journey alone. I also am surrounding myself with Christian friends who take their faith in Christ seriously.

    Again, I love reading your work!

    GOD BLESS!
    Louise

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    1. Thank you so very much for the encouragement on my work. God is so good that He never leaves us alone. I too love my Christian friends. I don't remember how I ever lived the old life as long as I did. I'm so happy to be in a relationship with God. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  10. Carley, thank you for sharing about this. I have friends that I have had to let go of as well. It is hard when we ask for forgiveness and do not receive it. We need to be careful to offer forgiveness to others when they ask. You are a great blessing to others.
    anyvar

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    1. Thank you very much for reading, and thank you for the encouragement. Forgiveness was a hard lesson for me to learn, but now it's one of the best gifts I've ever received. God is so good. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  11. franceshd-agapeJanuary 15, 2013

    Another WONDERFUL blog
    As usual, You BLESSED me through it
    THANK YOU !
    Agape

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    1. Thank you so very much. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  12. You wrote "...what about those times when we don’t get forgiveness from a friend?"

    Sometimes, it's the thoughtless things we do that can nag at us. And it's harder (to my mind) making amends when we don't know the person we've harmed, whose path we may have crossed only once.

    When you reach out in apology and try to mend bridges, you have done the right thing. Whether your former friends accept your hand in forgiveness is down to them - you have done your best, and you're right to let it go.

    Like you, Carley, I believe there's a reason. It is time to let it go, as it's meant to be...

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    1. Thank you Kasey. As always you bless me with your feedback. Thank you for the advice and for sharing. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  13. Thank you! :-)

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    1. Thank you for reading. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  14. How true! How True! If we just look for it...we can see blessings all around us. It's not just by accident!

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    1. Thank you for reading. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  15. Thank you SWIMLOVER. Many blessings to you. HUG

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  16. Greetings! Very useful advice in this particular post!
    It's the little changes that produce the biggest changes. Thanks for sharing!
    Also visit my page tmj headaches symptoms

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  17. Wow, thanks for sharing....today is one of those days that the past creeps in like an evil grain of sand in the cracks....I have been struggeling with things from my past for along time...and I know that god says look back only long enough to prosper...and I really really do that alot,,,but today satan found a crack in the morter and oozed in bringing up alot of past that I buried along time ago..Gods always got our back, he hears when we are just thinking and knows exactly what to send our way to remind us, we are forgiven and if we look back just make it long enough to prosper from our mistakes....THANKS AGAIN...I REALLY NEEDED THE BOOST TO MY FAITH...
    God Bless

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    1. Thank you so much for your wonderful comments. Thanks also for sharing. Many blessings to you. HUG.

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  18. Thanks for sharing! I find the Lord leads me to really ponder via email...it's amazing isn't it?

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  19. I agree! Blessings can come even at a really bad time in your life. Make sure you count them.

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  20. That is a beautiful blog. Thanks for posting!

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  21. Just wanted to let you know I was also blessed by your writing!

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    1. Thank you so much for your wonderful comment. Many blessings to you. HUG.

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