Ever present Spirit

When Bad Things Happen

“When good things come about because you are in the room, it is possible the Holy Spirit has been with you. The opposite is also true.”

Donna Schaper (Calmly Plotting: Lent Devotionals)

Have you ever heard someone say, “The Lord has blessed me,” when something bad happens to them? Have you heard anyone give thanks when they lose a job, or a friend, or a loved one? Me either. Most of the time we feel blessed when we receive good things, and maybe even cursed when things don't go our way. Remember the words in Job 1:21: “Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I depart. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” That may be the very last time anyone blessed God for their hardships.

In retrospect, we may realize that something that we didn't want, something that seemed heinous at the time it happened, was truly a blessing in disguise. Because of that disastrous event, our life changed course and went off in a direction we could never have imagined, one more fulfilling than any other we might have chosen. In hindsight, we may recognize God's hand stirring the pot. Then we say, “I didn't realize it at the time, but that was such a Godsend!”

What if we were to start with the assumption that Spirit is present in all things at all times; that we are in God's hands every minute of every day, and proceed from there. I'm not saying that God makes bad things happen, but I am saying that God is always present, bidden or not. We would still grieve our losses, and hurt for our loved ones; we would still hate it when we experience pain, but we would also look for the blessing in it. We might approach it with the question of, “What now? What now, God?” Perhaps we should be asking that question anyway.

                                                           In the Spirit,

                                                               Jane