01/01/2024
Unwrapping the gift
Something that I remind myself of nearly every day is this quote
“… we must realize that everything which happens is due to some wisdom and that nothing happens without a reason.”
-The Promulgation of Universal Peace
Knowing this to be a certainty, I find it easier to find the faith and courage to get through a test, while waiting for the divine wisdom behind it to become apparent to me.
There are numerous instances in my life where I have – much later, with the benefit of hindsight – ultimately found this to be true. Some of what I once considered the most difficult and painful events in my life have ended up being the very key by which the door to something far better was opened up to me!
In every one of these instances, the path I ended up on was one that was far more beautiful and filled with goodness. It was also the path that I would never have initially chosen for myself and had often even gone to great lengths to avoid! But God, in His wisdom and providence knew better and the things that initially seemed like horrible tests ended up being precious gifts.
An analogy that I really love – courtesy of the amazingly wise people in my study circle – is that of unwrapping a gift. All tests are gifts. All tests. Not just because of the opportunity for spiritual growth, but because inevitably, there is a wisdom and hidden beauty in the very circumstances that initially bring us sadness, anger, anxiety or pain.
The tricky part is merely the ugly, unattractive wrapping that often disguises the beautiful gift. In times of tests, I remind myself that I just need to be patient as I wade through the layers of wrapping paper, peeling them away one layer at a time, and trying to find the gift buried beneath. It might take a while until I am able to actually enjoy and use the gift, but I know it’s there. Even if I can’t see it.
I’d guess that the first few times I received a wrapped gift as a very young child, I must have been very unenthused. What good was a plain box with a bow on it to me? But over time, as I received more wrapped gifts, I learnt to associate the wrapped box not with the exterior, but with its contents! I learnt that the big, ugly orange parcel was better than the small, pretty yellow one because it must have a bigger (and naturally – as far as being a child goes – better!) toy inside!
As children, we learnt to look right through the exterior of a wrapped gift and to allow our imagination to run wild with what may lie hidden within. If only we could train ourselves to think the same way about tests – reaching out to embrace the most unappealing of tests, undaunted by the immediate realities and focusing only on the hidden wisdom that lies beneath!
Isn’t it true!
Happy New Year to all of us!
