God's view

Whom does God love more: me or Tom Brown? God allowed my show to get cancelled and my only real source of income to go away. But God also allowed Tom to move away from doing a task he doesn’t excel at into doing something he really loves as a talk show host. So when I lost my show, was God blessing His children?

Whom does God love more: me or Chris X? God allowed me to purchase two All-Star Game tickets for $1000 in the hopes of reselling them for a profit. In the end, I sold them for a loss of about $500 the week before the game. The stranger who bought them from me, Chris, used them as a surprise for his wife. They went to the game and the Home Run Derby, sitting in the much better seats than I even enjoyed with my other personal ticket. They were happy to buy them before hand and thrilled to have used them after the fact. So when I lost $500 on a dumb investment to make this possible for them, was God blessing His children?

Whom does God love more: us or the Blanks? All these years, my wife and I have held onto the house we dearly love in St. Louis, believing we would eventually return there as we both desire. In particular, this was always our back-up plan if I ever lost my radio show, which happens unexpectedly in my industry. Just three months ago, He told us to sell it, and it looks like we have a buyer. Now that I have lost the show, we’re suddenly semi-marooned in Phoenix, having no real idea what the future holds or where it lies. So we’re probably selling a house we love near Dani’s mom that was always our safety valve and in which we started our family. But we’re selling it to people who seem to love it, too, perhaps even more than we do. The husband and his friend have already been planning how to finish the lower level which we never did in 13 years. So when we sell it to them (assuming it goes through), was God blessing His children?

When we say that God does things to bless His children, why do we tend to think that means they need to bless us more than others? Doesn’t it make at least as much sense that He might be interested in blessing them rather than us? Isn’t the real question whether I can be as happy to see others blessed (even at my own expense or misfortune) as I am to see myself prosper? Because until I am, can I really yet say I’m seeing things through God’s eyes? And shouldn’t I find the great honor of being such a nifty part of God’s grand plan worth so much more than any of the small things I seem to have lost in the process?

Just to be clear, there is only one correct answer to these questions. And it’s an inexpressibly wonderful joy to be in a position to give it.