On White Elephants by Chris White

According to legend, the people of Southeast Asia venerated and considered almost sacred the rare and exotic albino elephant.  But they were also used by kings as a means of ruining people who had offended them.  What they would do is present the elephant to the person as a gift and then sit back and laugh.  The person couldn’t kill the elephant because it was sacred and was perpetually obligated to give it the best of care because it was a gift from the king and he would be inquiring about it.  Thus the recipient found his lifestyle deeply cramped by the huge expenses of maintaining the animal and hence the term “White Elephant Gift”.  This should remind all of us that not all “blessings” are always a blessing nor are all “losses” necessarily a loss.  God has blessed me almost as often as not with things that at first were painful and negative but later proved to be the best possible situation for my life.  There have also been many times when I’ve begged God for a particular blessing only to think later: “man, be careful what you pray for, you might just get it!”  Thanks be to God that His ways are not our ways, nor are our thoughts His thoughts.  His path, whether difficult or easy today, will always lead to a future blessing.