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Mixed Blessings

Finally got a chance to slow down and take a breath after a whirlwind weekend. As I'm sure most of you know, on Friday of last week we had a memorial service for Bob Staudigl, remembering and celebrating his life and memory and giving praise to God for the fact that Bob was a man of faith and is in His presence right now. Then on Saturday, we celebrated the creation of a new family as Jamie Padgett and Caroline Kell were united in marriage. This was followed by a Palm Sunday celebration that was filled with fun, worship, laughter, and praise.

As I reflected on this weekend, it occurred to me how often God gives us mixed blessings in our life. The passing of Bob Staudigl filled us all with grief and left us with mourning in our heart. But then God allowed us to be filled with joy at the creation of a new family.

While we know that our lives here on earth are but a blink in the whole scheme of things and that the most important facets of our life occur in the spiritual realm, it seems that God recognizes our connection to our earthly lives and rains down blessings on us while we are still here. Time and time again, we see the death of a loved one (with its accompanying grief and sadness) followed by an event that brings us joy, such as a marriage, the birth of a child, or the salvation of a loved one. I call such events "mixed blessings."

God knows our fragile human hearts can only endure so much, so He seems to balance our sadness and misery with events of joy and happiness. Even in places like war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan, we see joy and happiness blended with the sadness and misery so rampant there. If not for the blessings of God, it would be hard for us to live in this fallen world.

If He cares so much about our life here on earth -- which is here today and then gone in an instant -- how much more will our life in Heaven be blessed when we are with Him forever! Praise God today for the mixed blessings in your life -- for the rays of sunlight that penetrate the storm clouds!