"Things aren't always as they seem"

Two Traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family.

The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room.

Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement.

As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it.  When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied,

"Things aren't always what they seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife.  After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest.  When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears.  Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.  The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel how could you have let this happen?  The first man had everything, yet you helped him, she accused.  The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die.

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied.

"When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall.  Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it." 

"Then last night as we slept in the farmer's bed, the angel of death came for his wife, I gave him the cow instead.

Things aren't always what they seem."

Being able to accept situations that are out of our control is part of emotional discipline and maturity.  Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way we think that they should.  If you have faith and you are being the best that you can be in your life, you will trust that every outcome is always to your advantage.  You might not know it until sometime later in life.  To be able to see the bigger picture and perceive a circumstance or situation from different perspectives will limit judging things as good or bad.  Most of the time we have to let things be as they are and focus our energies on things within ourselves that we can change.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change

The courage to change the things that I can

And the Wisdom to know the difference.