Mercies in Disguise

A couple months ago in church we sang a song that really impacted me called “Blessings.” The song was written and is sung by Laura Story. As I sang the song I recalled many of the trials in my life and how I questioned God’s goodness and His sovereignty. Why did He take my mom to be with Him when I was in my early twenties? Why were my husband and I unable to have children?

While I may not have specific answers to these questions, understanding the history in Genesis made all the difference. Several years after these events, I understood that death and suffering are part of this world because of man’s actions, man’s sin, not God’s (Genesis 3). God in His loving kindness sent His only Son to die on the cross so that man could be redeemed from sin. And someday we can live eternally with God in a place where death and suffering have been permanently removed if we receive the free gift of salvation Christ offers. Many of these things I knew from my Christian upbringing, but I had never put them together in this way.

And I have seen God bring so much good from these tragic events. As the song says, “What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise.” I always say my family is a living testimony to Romans 8:28. God took my daughter’s bad situation of being an orphan in China and our bad situation of being unable to have children and brought us together as a family—He brought good out of the bad! I hope the lyrics to this song will encourage your heart as they have encouraged mine.

Blessings

By Laura Story

Verse 1:

We pray for blessings We pray for peace Comfort for family, protection while we sleep We pray for healing, for prosperity We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering All the while, You hear each spoken need Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

Chorus:

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops What if Your healing comes through tears What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

Verse 2:

We pray for wisdom Your voice to hear We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love As if every promise from Your Word is not enough All the while, You hear each desperate plea As long as we have faith to believe

Bridge:

When friends betray us When darkness seems to win We know that pain reminds this heart That this is not our home It’s not out home

Verse 4:

What if my greatest disappointments Or the aching of this life Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy What if trials of this life The rain, the storms, the hardest nights Are your mercies in disguise

Keep up the good fight of the faith!