Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The folks were rude and refused to allow the angels to stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead, the angels were given a small space in the cold basement. As the angels made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the basement wall and decided to repair it. When the younger angel asked his motive, the older angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”
The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable, farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could get a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole source of income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel, “How could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” the angel accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let their cow die.” “Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and was unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find the gold. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead! Things aren’t always what they seem.”
Who can understand why things don’t always turn out the way they’re supposed to? Romans 8:28 is sometimes an overused verse, but does bear repeating: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose!” This doesn’t mean that all that happens to us is good. Evil is present in our fallen world, but God is able to turn every circumstance around for our long-range good!
So when things aren’t always as they seem, let’s not judge situations too quickly. In God’s total plan for our lives, He may be attempting to achieve “His purposes.”
September/October 2002