Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all – 2 Thessalonians 3:16
“Thank you for indulging another showing of the house at this time in the morning. My wife and I wanted to check it out at an earlier time before making a decision,” Lewis said. “My time is your time,” the realtor responded. “What’s that noise?” Alice inquired. “There’s a resident who insists on having their car alarm chime repeatedly around this time. I’m certain the seller will offer a reduction in price because of it,” the realtor assured. “We’ll take the house!” Lewis announced. “My husband just got a promotion that requires him to be on the road quite early. And now we’ll have a wakeup service,” Alice said excitedly.
The opening scenario is inspired by an undesirable situation that presented two choices: I could allow it to frustrate me, or I could believe the saying: “Every cloud has a silver lining.” The latter choice was shared during an outing with my family. My decision wasn’t based on feelings of defeat, but the refusal to allow another’s actions to strip me of what God desires for His children: peace. I needed only to open my mind to be divinely guided beyond the “what’s being done” to “what it’ll bring.”
I’m learning that God often permits certain undesirables in our lives to reinforce an important message: situations don’t have to be desirable to be useful. We need only be willing to look for the silver lining by seeking divine revelation of their benefit.