This month I had the opportunity to take a little road trip to Mackinac Island with some friends. Initially, I debated about whether to go because I didn't think I could afford it. Finally, I couldn't resist the travel bug in me and decided to go!
After a long and fun-filled day of exploring the island and biking we headed to our hotel an hour away. When we arrived, it was about 1am and I was exhausted! I threw myself into the bed and fluffed the pillows only to jump out of the bed and discover that I was wet! I was too tired at this point to think anything of it and jumped into my friend's bed. Soon, I discovered that this one was wet too! Even though I warned her, my friend climbed into my bed and also discovered that she had gotten wet! We were bewildered and annoyed but called the front desk where they finally brought us rollaway beds. They apologized and explained that the housekeeper had probably put damp sheets on the beds.
It wasn't until 2:30am before I had changed clothes and fallen asleep. However, in the morning when it was light out, we noticed that the damp beds were stained yellow! We notified the manager who didn't believe us at first. He did some digging and discovered something so horrendous, we started freaking out. He informed us that the people staying before us admitted that their son had wet the beds! And not just one bed but BOTH beds!
WE HAD BEEN LAYING IN SOMEONE ELSE'S PEE! AH! As you can imagine, we were very disturbed and freaked out by this!
It took a while to get over this, but in the end I couldn't help but laughing because it was just so bizarre. We ended up getting a free hotel through this ordeal... and having a hilarious memory that we will never forget. I also couldn't help but remember that God had provided for me to have a free hotel, knowing that I couldn't afford it. He tends to work outside the box that we put him in. This was an unexpected blessing in disguise!
I can think of a lot of other ways that God uses the terrible and uncomfortable situations to provide an unexpected blessing. Look for this when you are grieving a death or loss.
God is working amidst all the pain and chaos. For instance, my dad passed away 9 years ago on his exact birthday. My mom is one of the most optimistic people I know. One of the first things I remember her saying was, "He got the best birthday present he could have gotten by going to heaven". God could have chosen any other of the 364 days left in the year but instead, he left us a reminder that He is always in control even when tragedy occurs.
This past week I finished reading Levi Lusko's Through the Eyes of a Lion, which I highly recommend! He is a pastor in Montana who lost his 5-year-old daughter a few years ago. He shares his grief story and some amazing insights and pastoral analogies. Here's a quote from it that I love-
"You need to actively be on the lookout for every way you can redeem the hell you are put through by shining your light in the darkness. Your suffering is being used to create the anointing oil for the next level God wants you to reach. Squeeze every drop out of your trial. Let nothing be wasted. Hold nothing back. None of our tears have fallen to the ground unseen".Wow. That is powerful stuff. Everything that you go though is for a reason. Everything you suffer will be used to grow you, bring glory to God, and will have unexpected and hopeful outcomes from it. I've been thinking about this since in 2 weeks it will already be a year since Adriana passed away. In the span of a year I've been through a break-up, my sister's death, an international move, and a change of jobs and living situation. Literally, everything in my life is different from a year ago...except GOD'S PRESENCE with me. He's the only constant and stable ROCK in my life. Even though there will be more rough days ahead, I have comfort in God's character and consistency in my life.
Loved this. Very encouraging.
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