To Have and Have Not

We can never know all that goes on "behind the scenes". As Shakespeare once said, "All the world's a stage- and men are merely the players". I use to find myself getting extremely upset or agitated when things didn't go my way: certain things I wanted to have happen never did, or some dreams remained unmaterialized, even though everything seemed right- but now I see another side to this play. The things we think we are unable to catch may be kept out of reach for a reason. Perhaps there are hidden blessings in losing out on that which we so desperately want and feel we need. What glistened like gold might have been the very thing that led us off a cliff chasing after it. Is it just possible that we missed out on one thing because He has something better in mind? Or maybe the route you would've taken might have meant a lifetime of misery. We can only see so far ahead, and then we must simply trust. He knows what is best for you and me. When we finally come before the Lord and our lives are unrolled like a giant scroll for us to finally see, it will all be much clearer. When we are able to look at all the blocked paths we wanted to take but were forced to go another way and see exactly where they would have led us, I think we'll be relieved at the years of grief we were spared by not always "getting what we wanted".