You may already be familiar with this story but let me relate it again.
Two sick men occupied the same hospital room. One man was next to the room’s only window and he was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
Every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would describe to his roommate all the things he could see outside the hospital window: a lovely lake with ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
The man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the scene. But one day he felt envious of the other man. It’s not fair he thought. Why can’t he never get to see anything? He should be by that hospital window!
One night, the man by the hospital window began to choke on the fluid in his lungs. The other man never moved to help as he watched his struggling companion groped for the button to call for help. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped. There was no more breathing. Just silence.
The next morning, after the lifeless body of the man by the hospital window was taken away, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the hospital window. He was so happy that now he can see everything outside the window.
Excitedly, he turned his head and looked out. Nothing. The hospital window beside the bed faced a blank wall.
Nothing on earth happens by chance, including every single person we encounter in our life. God puts people in our lives for special reason, for a season or for a lifetime.
For 48 years I hated dogs. My brother left his male pitbull with me when he left for the States and for five years or so, I simply ignored it in our yard. Two years ago, by chance, my daughter was gifted with a two-month-old Labrador-Dalmatian dog. It’s almost 27 kilos now and I so love her. My siblings shake their heads in wonder why I’ve suddenly become a dog lover. For a reason, I can only say. Kaela came to my life at a time when my last child was to graduate from college. She will be here as my loyal companion when my daughter will leave me to follow her own dreams. God gave me Kaela for a reason.
This man came to my life a year after my husband died. He helped me through my bereavement and became my dear friend and confidante. For the next four years or so, we seemed to be soul mates in love. But one day, the relationship came to an end and we both walked away. It truly pained both of us but in retrospect now, he came to my life to answer my needs. He gave me an experience of peace at a time when I didn’t have it and he taught me things I’ve never done. My needs have been met and it was time to move on. He came to my life for a season.
Now I have a lifetime relationship to keep. He continues to teach me lifetime lessons, things I must build upon to have a solid spiritual foundation. I fall in love with Him daily, accept the lessons, and put what I have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of my life. God never came to my life for a reason or a season. He’s with me for a lifetime. In fact, He’s already there even before I existed and He’s still with me today in all my successes, failures, strengths and weaknesses. He will still be there when He grants me the chance to see Him face to face after this life. And he alone knows when this time will be. This is a relationship for keeps—in my lifetime and beyond in eternal life.
The story of the two hospital patients reminds us of the beauty of God’s hand at work in our lives. Why would we still look for happiness elsewhere? Or be envious of others who seem to have things we don’t have? Contentment is the key. The Bible clearly teaches us to “be content” no matter what our circumstances are. Preacher Joyce Meyer paraphrased well Philippians 4:6-7: “Don’t be upset about anything, no matter what is happening. Pray about it, and tell God your need. While you are waiting for God to move, be a very thankful and grateful person for all that God has done for you already.” I agree. And when she said that if God never did one thing for us except write our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that alone is more than enough, I doubly nod my head to that!
There’s plenty to enjoy without having to see it. I’ve never seen God but there’s a lot of joy and peace with Him in the center of my life.
“The happiest of people don’t have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.”