Blessing? Or Curse?

Now, let's all sit cross-legged around a rug and listen to this old Portuguese story: (stick with me, it's kinda long but worth it ;)

There was an old man who lived in a Portuguese village. He was very poor, but envied by all in his village for his beautiful white horse. People (even the King!) offered the poor old man CRAZY amounts of money for this horse, but he always declined.

One morning, the horse was missing. The townspeople came to make fun of the poor old man. "You could have been rich if you had sold that horse, but now look at you! You have nothing! Now the horse is gone and you have been cursed with misfortune!"

The man said, "All I know that the stable is empty and the horse is gone. The rest I do not know. Where it be a curse or a blessing. I can't say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?"

Of course, the people laughed.

After fifteen days, the horse returned. He had not been stolen, he had just ran into the forest. He brought 12 other IDENTICAL horses back with him.

The people returned and begged for forgiveness. "You were right, and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was actually a blessing."

Again, the man stopped them. "You go too far. Say that only the horse is gone. State that only a dozen horses returned with him, but don't judge. How can you say if this is a blessing or not?"

The story continues. The man's only son was riding one of the horses. He fell off and broke his legs. The townspeople returned, saying that they were right, that the horses were a curse. Now the old man had no one to take care of him.

A war began, and all the young men was drafted. Since the old man's son's legs were broken, he was to stay home with his father.

"You were right," they wept. Your son's accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he is with you."

The old man yelled, "STOP! why do you always draw conclusions? No one knows, say only this: Your sons went to war and mine did not. No one is wise enough to know if it is a blessing or a curse. Only God knows..."

While this story is a little boring and dry if I do say so myself, the message is so simple.

When I found out I didn't get the job I had initially applied for, (CURSE)
I learned the next week it was because they were hiring me for a different position that I would enjoy MUCH more and be much better at! (Blessing I didn't get the first one!)

Soo many situations in our lives we first view as curses, just to later find out how great of blessings they turned out to be!

So let's skip all the stress and sadness of the "curse" and know that God wouldn't present it to us, if it wasn't to lead to something even better ;)

Easier said then done, I know. Had you told me that it was a "blessing" when I got dumped or didn't get asked to that dance, I would have screamed at you and slammed the door in your face. (I was obsessed with slamming my bedroom door in high school when I was mad. :) It's very difficult to smile and say, "Hm. Well, that I am sure that is a blessing that I am not going with all my friends and their boyfriends to the dance." But, ya get the point. That is what we have to work towards ;)

"Life is understood backwards, but must be lived forwards."