I was having coffee with my good friend Ben this morning and conversation eventually turned toward the concept of unseen blessings. I am not a huge proponent of the common attitude “things could be worse” because it offers no hope and no comfort and sounds incredibly patronizing…still there is something to the idea of the unseen blessings.

In this broken world where we have asked God to “step away” as it were he has complied with the request and removed his presence somewhat infinitesimally; enough for us to have a small understanding of what the absence of God would be like…a taste of the Hell we would choose.

So in this space we find ourselves praying for all sorts of things. We desire miracles and visible blessings for one reason or another. We seek healing, the raising of the dead, etc. in much the same way infants seek constant affection, candy and toys. These desires reflect a perspective that is often blind to the hidden realities of God acting in our lives in a myriad of unseen ways.

Sometimes we are given a glimpse through the veil into just how much God is actively doing in the world that is incredibly miraculous. Take Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans for example. Now I do not believe Hurricane Katrina was God’s judgement on an immoral New Orleans as so many other misguided people have said.

I do believe that God used the circumstance to give us some insight into his unseen blessings. People felt that things were reasonably corrupt and evil in New Orleans before the Hurricane…some wondered why God would allow such corruption. After the hurricane when the police, fire and military presence was essentially wiped out of the city; when all semblance of government seemed to disappear, we were given a quick sad view of what a world without the restraining power of God could look like.

New Orleans became a free-for-all for murder, theft and all form of chaos for weeks after the disaster. It reminds us that the very presence of government and protective services, however corrupt, has a somewhat restraining effect on the ever present waves of evil that desire to wash over the world. In this circumstance it wasn’t until these restraining powers were removed that people came to truly understand their value. Somalia is another current example of what can happen when the invisible hand that restrains evil is removed for a time.

In the same way we really do not understand the blessing of God in our lives as he continues to act as a buffer between us and the deeper evil that would consume us whole if it were allowed.

There are times when we need to take a step back in our varied circumstances and ponder how God has blessed us by deflecting deeper evils from our lives. We may be poor but we have family. We may be sick but we have hospitals and treatment centres, etc. A loved one dies young but there is the blessing of having known that loved one at all.

Take a few minutes to ponder how God may have and continues to bless you in all things despite how poor you feel your circumstances are right now.

“For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.” – Psalm 27:5