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Blessings in Disguise - What's Yours?
As Christians, we are thankful for the blessings God gives us throughout the year and our lives; however, we take special time to reflect on these blessings on Thanksgiving Day. Many families will go around the table telling each other what they’re most thankful for: family and friends, having a job or getting a new job, their health, their home, and many of the luxuries that make our lives easier or more fun. Hopefully, Christians include Jesus, our Savior, who gave us the greatest gift: salvation. These are things that are easy to be thankful for, especially if we’ve known life without them, but what are we missing? Can we look more deeply and consider things we often disregard as something to be thankful for?
The things we often forget to be thankful for are the things about ourselves and others that may not seem worth giving thanks for, because we cannot see how God might use them as a blessing to us or how God can use even them to bless us. These things are less obvious but worth considering because God uses good and bad things in our lives to bless us!
Sometimes, losing a job, getting a disease, having a home burn down, losing a friend or family member, relationship problems, problems with mean kids at school, or any number of other things we wish didn’t happen —God can use them to bless us. Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect and be thankful for things we don’t usually consider. For example, when I found out I was diabetic, I was devastated, but not too long after that bad day, I look back and see that God turned it into a blessing. I feel better and am healthier than I would ever have been.
Things can always be looked at from different perspectives. Things that seem good to us may not be so good from God’s perspective, and things that seem bad to us may be used by God to help us grow closer to Him, which is always good.
Think for a moment about all the people God used in the Bible. No human is perfect, even if they’re in the Bible, but God chooses people for reasons beyond the worldly values we see and are proud of. He looks deeper. When Samuel was looking for a king to replace Saul, as he looked at David’s good-looking and strong older brother Eliab, God said to him, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 6:7).
We often look at things from a worldly, materialistic point of view. We compare our lives to what we see around us, and that’s what we’re thankful for or wish we could change. However, God’s point of view is not about this world, but the next. It’s not about what we have, can earn, or do, but about what our heart and faith show. We are all as human as everyone in the Bible. We get up every day, put on our clothes, and, good or bad, do what we do. If you read about the people below in the Bible, you can see their mistakes — some seemingly more serious than others — but if you take a moment to look at it from a Thanksgiving point of view, you will see the blessing for us.
This Thanksgiving, try to look at them, and then at the people in your life that may be hard to love sometimes, and then at yourself. What is negative in your life that you can learn from and God can use to teach you and bring you closer to Him?
This Thanksgiving, consider that in spite of the negative things in the people below, God used
- Abraham, who reminds us to hear God, listen, have faith, and follow Him, even when the path is unclear.
- Sarah, who shows us that faith grows slowly sometimes, and God doesn’t give up on us if we doubt.
- Jacob, who shows us that God meets us in our weakness, not in our perfection.
- Rebekah, who reminds us that we need to wait for God’s time and be content with His will.
- Joseph, who teaches us that even when life feels unfair and confusing, God is working for us in ways we can’t see and is also working through us for the good of others.
- Moses, who teaches us that God equips those whom He calls through their doubts, fears, and failures. God can use a willing heart.
- Joshua, who shows us that success comes from courage, obedience, and trusting God’s promises, especially when the battle seems unwinnable.
- Ruth, who teaches us that faith is not just about belief, but about choosing love, integrity, and courage.
- Hannah, who shows us that we can trust God with both our grief and our gifts.
- Samuel, who teaches us that spiritual maturity begins with listening to God, who speaks to us through His Word.
- Saul, who shows us how arrogance, ambition, and pride can lead to partial disobedience, which is still disobedience.
- David, who, even as a man after God’s own heart, teaches us that even if we make very bad choices, God never leaves us because of behavior, and with true repentance, we can be restored.
- Jonathan, who gives us an example of true friendship.
- Solomon, whose life choices warn us of how easy it is to take and use God’s gifts to His glory, but through the danger of compromise, we can still fall away.
- Nehemiah, who teaches us that when we have obstacles to overcome, we should start with prayer, stay focused, don’t listen to hecklers, and listen to God.
- Daniel reminds us that moral courage can thrive in hostile environments, and spiritual integrity can influence culture; it is possible to live boldly as Christians without losing our identity.
- Jonah shows us that we can disagree with God’s plan, but it’s not wise to ignore it or try to outrun His calling. Disobedience has consequences. Bitterness blocks joy. God is interested in your heart and your motivations.
- All of the believers through the ages who have passed down the faith through God’s Word and Sacraments, by living it, talking about it, and showing it.
These are only a handful of the regular sinners in the Bible who have given us blessings in disguise. Our lives are filled with blessings that we don’t recognize, and blessings in disguise. We may not recognize the wonderful blessings we get from those in the Bible, and we may not recognize blessings in disguise. We need to look for them because they’re usually something we think will be or are negative, that God uses to bless us.
This year, when you’re going around the Thanksgiving table, instead of everyone telling each other that they’re thankful for family, friends, their job, a new car, etc. Give everyone a couple of minutes to find a blessing in disguise to share. Ask them, “What has happened in your life this past year that turned out to be a blessing in disguise?” Then try to hang on to those all year and keep looking for them. Thanksgiving is about being thankful for God’s unexpected blessings and blessings in disguise all year long. Keep looking. You’ll be surprised at how many you find.
Laura Langhoff Arndt is an author and teacher of the faith with an MA in Classroom Instruction and is the Director of Christian Education certification in the LCMS. She is the founder of the blog, Carpenter’s Ministry Toolbox.
Praying Scripture
There have been many times in my life when I’ve heard people say, “I’ve been praying the Bible.” Every time I hear that, I think, “Ooooh! That sounds good. I’m going to try that.” And I did. I started reading the Bible again, and every time I finished a passage, I had no idea how to pray it. The Psalms were pretty easy, but I struggled with the regular text. I couldn’t turn into a traditional prayer. Then, one day, my pastor-husband, who is always telling me how to turn my Small Catechism into a prayer, told me about Luther’s A Simple Way to Pray. I took a quick look and found there was nothing simple about it. I did, however, get a few great tips that I decided to share because in January, my congregation is going to start reading the Bible in a year, and I’m hoping they’ll want to do more than read.
First, pray that God open your heart to what you read. Consider the passage you read, and as you pray. I love the epistles, so I randomly chose 1 Timothy 3:1-9 for my example.
- What is the Lord trying to teach me?
- What do these words remind me to be thankful for?
- What do I need to confess about my failures in this area?
- In light of what you have discovered, pray for yourself and/or others. Enlighten me, Use me, Grant that,, Show me, Help me to be, or do…
- Thy will be done. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I don’t pray as gracefully as a pastor, and you don’t need to either. Often, we see similar messages across many passages, yet they’re still encouraging and empowering.
I Don't Like Holidays
Are you a fan of holiday movies? There are a couple of channels that play them constantly from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Somebody always falls in love and saves the farm, café, or other family business, and the decorations in the town are always over the top. Thanks to those movies and the million commercials that tell you what you need to live a good life, most of us think that the holidays need to be a certain way to be enjoyable.
The problem is that there is no magic in the days themselves. For some, it's only stress, loneliness, a lack of family, unavailable friends, a reminder of a lack of money, a family that never gets along, and a wish to go home and watch one of those holiday movies and pretend, or a bar to forget everything.
The best advice is this:
- Pray about it ahead of time. There’s nothing in the Bible about how or even if we should celebrate the Lord’s birthday. Ask God to fill you with peace and joy throughout the season.
- Do not stay at home watching those overly sweet holiday movies. Get out there and get busy doing something. Volunteer somewhere.
- Don’t compare your life or family to anybody else’s. Comparison is the thief of joy, and nobody’s family is as perfect as those on TV. Life is not better with more money. Sometimes the sweetest joy comes from a simple smile.
- Stay away from social media, where it seems everyone’s life is fabulous except yours. Again, nobody’s life is fabulous. It just appears that way.
- Check your expectations at the door. Most of our disappointment stems from our expectations.
- Find humor in your family dynamics. Some people act the same way at every family gathering. Instead of hoping it changes, expect it.
- Don’t accept any invitations to the family drama. Enjoy what you can and give up the rest. The anxiety and stress are not worth getting involved in it.
- If you really dread going to a family gathering, don’t go, or stay for a few minutes and leave. Plan to meet a friend who is in the same boat you are. You’ll be surprised at how many there are.
- Do something different. Either make a favorite dinner for yourself, or make the holiday the one day to eat your favorite junk food and watch your favorite movies.
The best advice of all is to change your perspective. Thanksgiving is about being thankful for all of God’s gifts, the most valuable of which are not material. We all have plenty to be thankful for in the sacrifice of our Lord, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins. For Christmas, focus on Jesus’ birth. People like to celebrate the birth, but often forget that He is a baby who was born for a reason. For the new year, make your first resolution a spiritual resolution. Resolve to get closer to Christ in some way: attend church more often, join a Bible study, get on a Bible reading plan, get a prayer whiteboard, and use it. Who knows? You may find the holidays a beloved time of peace and joy, and start looking forward to them.
In Every Issue
Family Ministry Idea: A Giant Thank You Card
Find a common place in the house to put a piece of poster board so people can write on it. Provide a few markers or crayons for the family to write down what they are thankful for every time they think of something. By the time Thanksgiving comes around, the poster board will be full of things to thank God for. You can use it in your dinner prayer or talk about it afterward. If you want to make it really interesting, don’t let anyone repeat an answer.
Family Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Not everybody loves the holidays, and they are coming up quickly. Lord, please work in the hearts of people everywhere so that they can turn to you during this time, especially if it’s painful for them. Help us, as a family, to remember and be aware of those who may be hurting or alone, and to do what we can to share your love and light with them. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.