A blessing in disguise

One of my heroes is Winston Churchill.

 

The "man of the hour" in World War II.

 

A leader who rose to the occasion.

 

Extremely flawed, but extremely gifted at the same time.

 

Winston Churchill lead England through the war, inspiring and encouraging the British to overcome the dreaded Nazi's.

 

And how did England reward him?  By promptly voting him out of office after the war ended.

 

The story goes that Churchill wasn't feeling too great about this and his ever patient wife shared with him that it might be a "blessing in disguise."

 

Winston Churchill responded as only he could by saying, "at the moment it is certainly very well disguised."

 

But a few months later he saw it differently.  He said, "I felt a great sense of relief - others having to face the hideous problems of the aftermath - it may all indeed be a "blessing in disguise."

 

I would suggest that you and I all face problems and adversity - that in the mid-term to long-term - end up being blessings in disguise.

 

Last year I hurt my back (moving furniture in the foyer).

 

I couldn't even stand up straight (some of you might remember that).  I ended up going to the chiropractor, who sent me to my doctor for some steroids - to ease the inflammation in my lower back.

 

The steroids irritated an my stomach - I ended up at Silver Cross hospital where I lost half my blood and had two blood transfusions.

 

While there, in the midst of all of the testing, the doctors found a G.I.S.T tumor in my stomach - and the size of a small lemon.

 

Another doctor ended up taking it out - and today all is well.

 

Do you see how "me hurting my back" was a "blessing in disguise?"

 

While none of us are calling for problems or like to be in the midst of trials, many times God allows adversity to come our way to protect us - to keep us from something far more dangerous or something that could be worse in our lives.

 

Just a thought for a Monday.