Friday Focus - Unexpected Blessings

A few weeks ago I was getting a bit stressed.  I had heaps of assessments for TAFE due soon and I had gotten behind in my schedule.  Although TAFE is nowhere near as stressful as uni, I didn't want to fail the whole semester because I missed deadlines.  I could say it was because of Nan being sick, friends coming to visit, or other commitments, but in reality, it was due to my own poor planning.

So, after thinking I was going to have to pull a few all-nighters (which I have never done) just to get everything finished, I got sick.  It started off as the flu - cough, fevers, body aches and pains, stuffed head and general not-with-it-ness which I thought I had conquered with cold and flu tablets.  But the cough remained and it got progressively worse until I couldn't go for more than two minutes without hacking and wheezing.  By last Thursday I was coughing so much I was struggling to breathe and thought I was going to choke to death (panicking of course only made the cough worse).  By this stage I also had two incredibly red and bloodshot eyes which kept oozing gunk.  For two consecutive mornings, I woke up unable to open my eyes properly.  The gunk had dried, forcing them shut, and I had to stagger to the bathroom, prise them open and clean them.  At the doctor's, he diagnosed me with a chest infection and a contagious eye infection, gave me a bag of drugs and told me to stay home for a few days.

Normally being sick would have been the worst thing that could have happened, but I was still well enough to sit at a computer and work.  I got more done over the last weekend than I have over the past couple of months.  Being sick was an incredible and unexpected blessing from God.  I honestly believe God allowed me to be sick to help me get my assignments done.  He brought good out of my own disorganisation.  What kind of God is this?

As I was marvelling at God's kindness, a thought struck me.  Would I be so thankful if God had allowed me to get gastro instead of a chest infection?  What if I had spent days with my head in the toilet and unable to work at all?  Would I still thank Him then?  The honest answer: probably not.

I was reading Meredith's post about how we are quick to say, "God is good to us," when He answers our prayers the way we want Him to, but we often fail to acknowledge God's goodness ALL of the time - even during testing times.  That was a challenge to me, but I still think don't want to get too politically correct (or biblically correct in this case) and fail to thank God for specific blessings.

In this case, I was blessed with hindsight in that I was able to see how God had used my sickness for good.  But God ALWAYS uses things for the good of those who love Him.  I have to trust that and walk by faith and not by sight.  So if I get gastro (which is going around unfortunately), God is not a meanie; He is using that for my good, which I may not know this side of heaven.  Having said that....God, please DON'T let me get gastro...PLEASE.

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