A few days ago, my main work-truck broke down while towing a trailer (yes, right now I am still spending most days as a contractor). I was on my way back after a day's work, and lost power steering and power brakes mile or so from my home. This wasn't good. Then, just as I was turning onto the road I live on, the whole thing just shut off. This was even worse. I managed to coast almost to my drive. Now, I do have other trucks I use for work. So, I figured that I would go get my stake-body, and use it to tow the truck and trailer the last hundred feet. I hop in, fire it up, and start to back down the drive. As I came to a stop, something didn't feel quite right. I put it back in park, hopped back out, and lo-and-behold brake fluid was just running down the frame. Luckily, it didn't take too much braking power to get the whole convoy back in the drive. However, It really seemed like things just went from bad, to worse, to just friggin unbelievable. Needless to say, I was feeling kind-of down.
A couple of years ago, a lesser me would have been cursing, hollering, and quite likely cursing the Lord's name. Now, thankfully, I have taken a different view of life. One that acknowledges my own weakness, and realizes that God does not exist to make our lives more difficult. Quite the opposite. As I sat there that night with a calmer mind than my past self would have had, I started to realize the protection, and even blessings, that God had given me.
My truck could have broken down on the way to the job. It could have broken down in the client's yard. It could have even broken down on the highway. But it didn't. It broke down a hundred feet from my drive. Then I realized something else; my truck was already scheduled to be in the shop in a few weeks. Since the truck would already be at the shop and partly disassembled, it would be not too much extra work for the mechanic to fix it. This would save me both time and money (as opposed to two separate trips to the shop). As I pondered these blessings-in-disguise, something even more incredible came to my mind. My next intended use for the stake-body truck was to haul a load of scrap metal to the scrap yard. It was even partially loaded. Imagine if my brakes had waited just one more day to give out. I could have lost brakes with 2000lbs of steel in the back of the truck!
All of this is 100% true and un-exaggerated. I truly did coast almost home in the first truck, and I truly would have been hauling scrap in the next trip with the other truck. If you haven't figured out the moral of the story by now (I'm sure you did though), it is to realize that almost everything happens for a purpose. Maybe that event that seemed like divine punishment wasn't quite what it appeared. Maybe that loss was a boon. Maybe that curse was a blessing. God does look out for his flock. He cares for those that care for him. And while He might not guide you through life on a clear easy path, He is willing to toss a plank over a pitfall for you every now and then.