Current Events Monday: Bruises into Blessings
A wonderful pastor friend of mine says, “God can turn our bruises into blessings.” Such an encouraging statement coincides with the tremendous biblical record of God using some of the most unlikely characters to accomplish his will. God can even turn seemingly accidental occurrences into life-altering blessings. For instance, we recently considered the hilarious story of Balaam’s talking donkey in our Wednesday Bible study (Deuteronomy 25). If you haven’t read that one in a while, then I’d encourage you to explore it again—especially if you are down on yourself or others. You may just find that God delights in crafting the unexpected for his glory.
What bruises has God turned into blessings for you? Consider the fantastic story of H.K. Pitts which ran recently in the Austin American-Statesmen. Pitts and a friend (James Norton), both students at UT, traveled together to Pitt’s hometown. During their trip, they started horse-playing, and Pitts poked Norton in the eyes by forming his hand into the gesture we today call “Hook ‘em Horns.” Norton then told another friend, Harley Clark, about the gesture. Clark was a UT cheerleader and introduced it as a sign for the university in a football game against TCU on November 12, 1955. The sign obviously went viral. And there you have it: an eye poke turned into one of the most recognized signs for University of Texas around the world—bruises become blessings.
God just may use a talking donkey or an eye poke to steer you in a totally new direction today. Let’s not discount how our bruises can become blessings.