Have you ever wondered experienced a tragedy and wondered why it happened, or wondered why bad things happen? Now, I’m not talking about terrorism or terminal diseases (or maybe), but like those things that happen to us and we try to figure out “why me, Lord,” or “what good can come out of this?” Have you ever had an experience like that, and later on, you realized that such had actually put you into a better position than if it hadn’t happened in the first place, like maybe you caught a terrible cold, which you later realized built up your immune system so you wouldn’t catch a much worse cold going around, or you had to go through something so that you’d be able to better prepare for when it happened again in the future? And sure, this could be anything, but what I’m trying to get at is, have you ever experienced a time when, looking back, you realized that if it wasn’t for something you had to endure, you might be in a worse position now? Like a tragedy that you later realized was really a blessing?
Tragedy During An Aggressive Soccer Game
Back when I was attending seminary, I also played defense for an intramural indoor soccer team. One night, we were up against a team that was really intense. As I was trying to get the ball from an opponent, his elbow came out of nowhere and popped me in the side of my nose. I went down, and blood poured out of my nose like I’d never seen it do so before. After being rushed to the ER, we learned that my nose was broken, but it was broken in such a way that it was actually considered a “good break”. I mean, it was broken, so how could it be a “good” break? But then, there were no deformities or anything, and if you looked at me, yeah, it was a bit swollen, but there were really no major noticeable signs. (Praise the Lord!)
Now check this out (talk about timing!): The next day, while in Sunday school, I talked with my students about the story of Joseph. We talked about how Joseph probably wondered, “Lord, why is this happening to me?”, figuring he didn’t deserve it, but couldn’t understand why the Lord was letting it happen, so he was searching for answers. Also, in the same way, often times, things will happen to us, and we don’t understand why God let it happen, figuring that we can’t figure out anything that we did to deserve this situation. But God often has a plan, which may or may not be revealed to us later, even well after the incident happened. But the point was that He does have a plan, regardless of how weird or confusing it may be to us.
Set up for a Blessing
As my nose healed, I came to realize that the breaking of my nose was actually a blessing. No, seriously! It was like one of those “aaaah” moments, where not everything makes sense, for since then, my sneezes had actually become cleaner and fuller, if that makes any sense. Also, after seminary, the Lord ended up sending me to Kentucky, a state where Goldenrod, a weed with TONS of pollen, was the state flower. For somebody like me, who had suffered all my life from pollen allergies, such a state would normally have felt like a near-death sentence. But since the breaking of my nose, my sinus’ had actually opened up some, making it less terrible during the summer weed/pollen invasion months. In fact, still to this day, instead of flowing out my nose, thus filling a landfill with used tissues and looking like Rudolph each year, most of the snot was now redirected down my throat – still not the best option, sure, and it causes me to cough more than previously, sometimes even getting a sore throat and a dry nose from blowing it all the time, but it’s nowhere near as bad as when I was growing up. So getting my nose broken was actually a good thing (go figure!).
It’s kind of like the cross of Jesus Christ, you know? In Luke 24:13, we begin reading that 2 of Jesus’ disciples were on their way to Emmaus, when Jesus (in disguise) approached them and asked what they were talking about. “They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, Cleopas, asked Him, ‘Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and don’t know the things that have happened these days…about Jesus of Nazareth? He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified Him; we’d hoped that He was the One who was going to redeem Israel, and what’s more, it’s the third day since all this took place, and when our women went to His tomb early this morning, they didn’t find His body…'”
How terrible that would seem to somebody who didn’t understand what God was doing — the one they thought would fulfill all the prophecies was instead killed by the people they looked to for religious leadership, and now, His body’s missing, and their women are all speaking crazy-talk about what happened. They don’t know where His body is, they don’t know what’s going on, and they think they’re dealing with a huge tragedy, and couldn’t figure out how anything good could come out of this. But Jesus told them before everything happened, and even here on the road to Emmaus, what had to happen, that the prophets had all spoken of this moment, and that this all had to happen in order for something awesome to happen:
- In order for Jesus to be raised from the dead, He had to die.
- In order for Jesus’ death to be sacrificial, He had to allow others to do it.
- In order for Jesus’ death to atone for our sins, He had to do it Himself.
- In order for God to save us Himself, as He said He would by the prophets, He had to be able to die, hence being born a human (fully human, yet also fully God).
Jesus said in verse 44: “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”
They were still dwelling on the tragedy of His death, because they weren’t expecting the blessing that would come from it – they were too focused on the tragedy to see the blessing.
Just because we don’t see or understand why something’s happening to us, that doesn’t mean that it’s because we deserved it, or that God’s mad at us for something, or that it will now destroy our lives. Sometimes it’s just part of God’s will, sometimes we were in the wrong place at the wrong time, sometimes there’s no real reason for it; and sometimes, God allows it to happen in order to bless and/or prepare us for a blessing that has yet to come up where, if not for the event, we might have been worse off.
What are some times that have happened to you where it felt like a tragedy, but then turned out being more of a blessing later on? I’d love to read about them in the comments below!
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