Five Words from God: A Parable

One night a man had a dream in which God told him five things.

First, God said, "You have no idea how much I love you. You are my beloved. If you understood for just one moment how much I love you, it would change your life forever. I love you far more than you could understand."

The man thought this was good.

Then God told the man, "You have no idea how much I want to bless you, how I long to pour blessing into your life and through your life bless many other people. If you understood for just one moment what blessings I would give to you, the way I want to use your life to bless others, it would change your life forever."

The man thought this also was good.

Then God said, "Tomorrow something will happen to you that will devastate your life. The trauma will be so horrific that you will doubt my wisdom, my goodness, even my existence."

The man thought this was not good at all.

Then God began to tell the man how that horrific, traumatic event would ultimately be a source of blessing in his life, how He would use that man's suffering to bless many people, not just in his lifetime but for many years to come. By the time God had finished telling the man all the good things that would come about because of his suffering, the man was ready, almost eager for his ordeal to begin.

Finally, God told the man one more thing: "Tomorrow, when all this trouble falls on you, you will remember none of this dream."