Those are words taken from Ann Voskamp's today blog. Another really good read! But I also had to pull from it the wisdom in the story she shared of the White Horse:
How a white stallion had rode into the paddocks of an old man and all the villagers had congratulated him on such good fortune. And the old man had only offered this: “Is it a curse or a blessing? All we can see is a sliver. Who can see what will come next?”
When the white horse ran off, the townsfolk were convinced the white stallion had been a curse. The old man lived surrendered and satisfied in the will of God alone: “I cannot see as He sees.”
And when the horse returned with a dozen more horses, the townsfolk declared it a blessing, yet the old man said only, “It is as He wills and I give thanks for His will.”Then the man’s only son broke his leg when thrown from the white stallion. The town folk all bemoaned the bad fortune of that white stallion. And the old man had only offered, “We’ll see. We’ll see. It is as He wills and I give thanks for His will.”
When a draft for a war took all the young men off to battle but the son with the broken leg, the villagers all proclaimed the good fortune of that white horse. And the old man said but this, “We see only a sliver of the sum. We cannot see how the bad might be good. God is sovereign and He is good and He sees and work all things together for good.”
This story made me recall all the times I've wavered like these villagers. From good to bad, from blessing to a curse, all because I could only see a sliver.
This tied in with another blog I read today from Nancy Smith on Destiny in Bloom. Below is my comment that sums it up:
"There’s a magic word in Ted’s world: uncle. As in, Uncle David. Uncle David gets Ted, understands him pretty well. At that moment, he understood something I couldn’t see. He walked over, quite nonchalantly, and told me to go ahead and get on the ride and he would take care of the boy."My takeaways:
First impression: Uncle David was Jesus to your Ted in this moment. He "understood Ted and saw something you couldn't see". How awesome to see Jesus in that exchange! And high-five to Uncle David for being discerning and seizing the moment in obedience!
"Yes, I learned something from my eight year old son. I learned that I get to choose how I respond to the curves life throws at me."
This hit my heart today. Yesterday was a day full of 'response choices' and I did not make all of them wisely. It's a reminder that I'm still learning how to hit that curve-ball ... and thankful for grace in the process of learning.
"As a reasonable adult, I know why Ted shouldn’t ride a roller coaster when he’s not tall enough: safety. ... That didn’t stop the tears, though. He was disappointed."
I know your point didn't stop where I chose to end your quote. I just wanted to pause on the reality and truth of those words combined. You understood the reason your son couldn't ride, but that didn't cover his disappointment. Just like Jesus understands the "why" behind our closed doors, and yet we still cry tears of disappointment in veiled understanding.
Until HE uncovers...
"Something better was around the corner, just out of reach. But at the right time, through the perfect process, we walked into the place we were meant to be."
Oh that we would have eyes to see what's just around our corners when our hearts are disappointed at what we didn't get today ... that thing we wanted so badly, when in truth, it wasn't the BEST we believed it to be. I want the ears of my heart to be so sensitive to the whispers of Jesus saying, "It's okay. I have something better waiting to give you. Something that's better than what you came in for. Something you can take home with you."
There is wisdom contained in a sliver, but it's not the whole truth.
[AND]
Disappointment is not truth. For around the next corner waits our BEST.
[AND]
Don't be so quick to judge what's lost today as actually lost. It may not have been ours to begin with.
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