One night an archangel and his assistant 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 space in the mansion's cold basement, an old mattress, and a couple of worn blankets. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the archangel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When his assistant asked why, the archangel replied, "Things aren't always what they seem to be." The next night, the angels 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 assistant angel was infuriated and asked the archangel, "How could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him. The second family had so little, but was willing to share everything and you let their cow die." Things aren't always what they seem to be," the archangel 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 selfish 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 to be." Sometimes this is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way we think they should. If we have faith, we just need to trust that every outcome is always to our advantage. We might not realize it until some time later, however, because "Things aren't always what they seem to be."
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