Hot Coffee Anyone?

Three persons in three different situation.

Bobby has just recently lost his high-paying job of 2 years. He has an
ailing mother to support and needing medical attention, 4 children to
send to school and a 30,000-peso monthly mortgage payment that will be
due by the end of the current month.

Bobby has now unspeakable inner joy.

Sarah is in total grief when his boyfriend left her for another girl after
more than their three years of being in a relationship. She can not stop
wondering what made him leave her despite her all-out show of love for him
and his apparent profession of undying love for her as well.

Sarah was devastated but still hoping for them to get back together.

Jeremy is in deep thought after losing a lot of his personal belongings in
a recent typhoon-spawned flood that inundated the first floor of the flat he
was renting in the metropolis. Of all his possessions, he was particularly
sad and anxious how to replace his personal laptop that he is using for his
toxic job in an advertising firm. His meager salary will not be enough to
buy him a replacement for at least a year.

Jeremy is relieved at what happened.

Three persons with opposite responses to their situations.

So what made Bobby and Jeremy respond in their own positive way while Sarah
reacted differently?

Bobby and Jeremy both saw the blessing behind the trials while Sarah refused
to even look beyond her pain.

Bobby's firm, as he was slowly finding out in the last months, has been
actively involved in illegal activities to corner lucrative government
contracts. He himself was almost forced to sign-approve one over-priced
project that would undoubtedly given him fat under-the-table bonuses but
would, with absolute certainty, sent him to jail for such criminal misdeed.
He refused and was fired instead.

Jeremy, in the past years, has been addicted to pornography and his personal
laptop has been his all-the-time-anytime free cyber-pass to his hidden
sinfulness. And so, no matter how intent he was to change his behavior, his
laptop inside the privacy of his room has posed a grave hindrance on his
many failed attempts to mend his way. With the flood, this sinful agent is
gone and Jeremy has more leverage to limit and control his desire to view
internet pornography.

Sarah, on the other hand, knew very well that her boyfriend has another girl
even at the start of their relationship yet she still blindly accepted him.
He admitted to all his other-girls-on-the-side activities with the promise
that she will ultimately be the only one for him. He is a
more-than-occasional drinker and hot-tempered as well with a strong
inclination towards violence. Sarah, however, refuses to see the bigger
picture and she is bound to have more serious hurts and pains in the future.

Does God really allow us to have pain and trials to protect and save us from
more severe painful situations in our future lifetime and, above all,
eternal condemnation ?

Yes, I believe so.

I never fully understood it myself until my son Zek was about 2 years old.
At that time, he was starting to grab and hold anything that captured his
attention. Much to my and my wife's worry, he caught a glimpse of the flame
in the gas stove and wanted to touch it. We could not stop him with verbal
reminders and warnings about how those hot flames can seriously harm him. He
was bent on finding out what this flame is about. My wife finally thought
about letting Zek experience a managed hot temperature by allowing him to
touch our mugs with hot coffee. Finally, he understood and learned what
"hot" means and how painful it was to be touched. Henceforth, his curiosity
to touch the hot gas-stove flame was gone.

It is really up to us to learn from any bad and painful situation, to
respond positively and to faithfully believe that God has the bigger picture
in sight for each and everyone of us.

So the next time there is a trial facing us, let us reflect on it and ask
ourself this question - Is God re-directing me or wanting to protect me and
my family?

His disguised blessings can only be made clear by accepting His plan with
absolute humility and Spirit-inspired gratitude.

God bless us all.


- October 13, 2009