A blessing

Do you believe in coincidences? Well, I don’t, especially when there’s continuity. I believe God is doing his amazing work in my life. And I am sure he will do the same for everyone.

The blessing began with a curse, a punishment for my stupid words, I presumed. I remember myself sitting on the stage saying the words that I regretted the most in my life. It was supposed to be a serious sharing of my studying experience in high school. However, I went too far with my jokes and told everyone that I was always sleeping in class, to justify my point of being relaxed in my studies in order to get good grades. It was too late for me to regret and take back all my words as the microphone projected every syllable in my sentence clearly. I quickly apologised and ended my sharing, but inside I knew, I was in deep trouble. I could never erase the guilt when I saw the teacher’s frown. She treasured me the most but she strolled out of the hall with disappointment and despair.

I reached for my phone, cracking my fingers, to type the longest apology in my life. However, when I unlocked the screen with my password, it indicated that I was incorrect. I tried slowing down my fingers to swipe the combination, the monitor still indicated a wrong password. Then, my phone started to lock itself for 15 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes, and finally shutting down. Every time I swiped my screen, colder sweat rushed out the tips of my fingers as my heart raced faster each second.

“No. This couldn’t be! How come?” I mumbled the screen locked itself for 5 minutes. “I just bought this new phone.”

“I didn’t even drop it for once! How…..Why me…….” I sighed as the phone continued to lock itself for 15 minutes.

“Damn this phone! How come the password is still incorrect?” I clenched my fists. “Have I been hacked?” But the phone ignored my feelings and locked itself for 60 minutes.

“I am really sorry. Your phone shut down, I can’t even erase the data.” The phone store manager shrugged his shoulders. “Bring along your warranty and go to the original dealer’s office. They can help you there.”

“Alright. Thanks anyway.” I forced a smile as thousands of profanities burst inside my head.

“Even going to the phone store can’t fix this problem and I have to travel a long way to the office in downtown? Why is this happening to me?”

“I know what I have done! I humiliated my teacher with my jokes this morning! I really regret that,God! Aren’t you forgiving and kind? What is your plan in all this? I know this is your way of justice. I really regret my sins, please release me from these problems….” I prayed as I rushed home.

“I know you are mighty and powerful. I truly believe there are signs of blessings hiding near me. Please give me the wisdom to see them. Lord, I know you are planning the best for me. But please fix my phone as soon as possible.” I hoped for the best, praying that the phone would miraculously be turned on when I reached for it. But it didn’t, so I had to take the long trip.

When I got home, I bolted into my room to search for the warranty. I looked into every file, peeped into every hole, pushed down every shelf, even lifted my mattress, to look for the pile of papers. Hearing the mess I have made, my maid walked into my room and asked “What is happening? Is something wrong?”

I quickly explained everything to her and told her I was looking for the warranty. She tapped my shoulder and pointed at my desk. I mentally knelt down as my head turned toward my desk, it was literally right in front of me and I missed it! It was easy for people to miss the most crucial things when they were not clear-minded, even if that thing was served on a plate in front of them.

“Don’t worry. You can get it fixed right away. You don’t need to wait for days.” She explained as I was worried that I had to wait for days to get my phone back, just like my notebook computer last time.

“Thank God! That was the first comforting words I hear today.” I praised.

I did not know why I strongly urged for a companion for this one-man job. Since it was simple to do: I only needed to go to the dealer’s store, queue for hours, and let them fix my phone, piece of cake. Maybe I wanted a friend to talk to me during the long wait, maybe I wanted to share with him my experience, maybe I didn’t want to be alone. However, switching to another aspect, it would be wasting my friend’s time as he had to sacrifice his time and money to travel with me. Also, he may also had some problems to deal with as well, so it would be selfish of me to ask a friend out for no valid reason.

“Do you want to accompany to downtown?” I asked my friend Joe after telling him my horrid experience.

“Sure.” He answered

That was the second comforting words I heard in that day.

So we went to the store and fixed the phone. I was glad that someone was there to chat with me because the queue felt like it lasted forever. I remembered ourselves walking out like a pair of zombies.

“Hey, since we’re here at this hour, why not have dinner and watch a movie then call it a night?” I suggested.

At first, he was reluctant to the idea because he wanted to have dinner at home. But he surrendered to my persuasion skills and the joyful moments we were having as best buds.

So we were off to find a place to eat after we had bought the ticket for a movie. As we walked along the busy streets, I pointed at a building and said “Hey, do you know there’s a cafe up there where you can play board games while having food? I have been there once with my friends, the price was reasonable and we had a lot of fun there.”

“Oh really?” He nodded.

“Yeah. We should bring along the gang next time. I really recommend this cafe for fun gatherings.”

“Cool.” He said, “But I am starving, can we please find a place to eat?”

“Sorry man, there’s a good restaurant two streets away. Let’s go there.”

He let out a satisfied smile.

The night ended with a great action movie about a bunch of young people doing extreme stunts and posting them on the web to gain popularity. We enjoyed the dangerous actions and the amazing music.

“Thank you, God, for this amazing night, I had with my friend Joe. Thank you for providing him to me. Without his companionship, I would only be at home regretting my words in the morning over and over again.” However, it felt like God’s plan had not ended. I wanted a more meaningful experience. I had a lot of fun, but where was God? I wanted something more eternal. Money was spent for something that would last until moonset, but I could not find God yet.

A phone call from Joe the next day completed this fascinating story.

“Hey dude, remember that cafe you told me yesterday? I really need the address now.” He sounded excited.

“Alright.” I searched for the address online. “Why do you need it so bad?”

“You cannot believe this! I am a planner for the farewell of my fellowship’s friend. We were supposed to have the chicken pot for dinner tomorrow but he suddenly didn’t want to go there and asked for a place where we can play board games and eat at the same time. As I was struggling for an answer, I thought of your suggestion yesterday. And it saved me a lot of trouble.”

“Oh really?” I was just as overjoyed as he was. Symphonies and praises were filled within my soul as I admire the amazing work of God. “You are awesome.” I pointed to the sky and glorified him.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“All I can say now is thank God! If it wasn’t for last night, I would have still been crushing my mind for ideas.”

That night, I knelt in front of the most incredible mastermind that created the universe. I had never thought of blessing someone in my own curse. And sharing the blessing with others was happier than getting the blessing myself!

In further retrospect, if any of the steps had gone wrong, say, Joe rejected to accompany me to downtown, or not having dinner with me, he would never have had the chance to get the information about the cafe.

Moreover, God had already known that Joe’s friend was going to change his mind, so he first introduced the cafe to Joe before him pleading for a perfect solution for the problem. Thus, it suffices to say, God knew and has provided the solution for the problems we are about to face.

This experience has taught me lots of things: First, manipulate my tongue before it hurts anyone. Second, the situation may seem unappealing at first, but it will eventually become a blessing. Third, God can be experienced by people who are willing to believe in him.

I don’t believe in coincidences, everything is planned and tailor-made for each of us. Just be brave and put yourself in the hands of God. I am confident you can encounter him one day.

–END–