Blessed Contradictions

So that I would not become too proud of the wonderful things that were shown to me, a painful physical problem was given to me. (Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7)

Recently I have been contemplating what I call blessed contradictions. They are things that seem bad, but they really are good. Paul was given a 'thorn in the flesh' to keep him on the ground and free of arrogance. Casey Graham told our church Sunday his grandfather committed suicide over financial pressure. But now Casey leads an organization focused on giving people financial freedom. These are blessed contradictions.

The thing is, I think many of us see the bad things in our lives as only being bad things. The difficulties, the struggles, the pains...they could not be a blessing much less a gift from God (as Paul described his thorn.) We tend to have a very black and white view of life. We find it very difficult to imagine the bad stuff potentially being the good stuff. So the bad stuff and often the God who allows it get a bad rap.

In our world, having a flexible and patient perspective on the bad things is rare. But I think as Christ-followers we must take at least a wait and see attitude about everything that seems bad--if not, a positive faith that what is bad will be made into something good. Jesus said in John 16:33,

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

I am reminded of the story of the butterfly striving to break free from its cocoon. A well-meaning boy enlarged the opening in the cocoon to make it easier for the chrysalis to emerge. Finally the butterfly was free of the cocoon. But instead of flying away into joyful emancipation, the butterfly made a few feeble flaps of its wings and then laid down in death. Because the butterfly did not have to struggle to break free from the cocoon, the muscles necessary to fly were never developed. In an effort to free the butterfly the boy had killed it all because he saw something that was really good as being something bad.

What are you looking at in your life right now that you think is bad that is actually good? Don't take a shortcut around it. Seek God as Paul did and try to understand what is going on. Paul refused to quit praying until God either took away the thorn or helped him understand why it had to remain. And you may find out that what you thought was really bad is actually a blessed, blessed contradiction.