GOD BLESSES US ALL THE TIME

GOD BLESSES US ALL THE TIME

Once, two friends Bhakti and Samshaya went on a journey. They took with them their cow Lakshmi, a dog Kukkura and some things they would need. Samshaya did not believe in God. She would tease Bhakti who would always say, "God blesses us all the time."

One night, they reached a village and asked for some place to stay. That day, no one would take them in. So they had to camp outside the village on the edge of the jungle. Samshaya said, " So? Is this God's blessing?" Bhakti said, "Yes! you will see."

That night, a cheetah attacked their tent and tried to drag away the cow. The cow bellowed in pain. The girls chased the cheetah away with large burning torches. But by then, lakshmi was injured and it would take a while to heal. Samshya again asked, Is this how God blesses us?"

Bhakti said, "We were saved today. God blesses us all the time."

A little while later, the cheetah returned. This time it was Kukkura's turn. He got hurt but barked so loudly that again the cheetah ran away. Seeing Kukkura hurt, Samshaya asked, "Is this God's blessing?" Bhakti replied, "It is because Kukkura barked so loudly that the cheetah ran away again. Otherwise we would have died. God blesses us all the time."

After a while, the girls heard some sound again. Samshaya said, "The cheetah is back!" She rushed and lit the fire-torchers. But as soon as she came out of the tent, the wind put out the torches. Samshaya whispered angrily to Bhakti, "Is this God's blessing? Now if the cheetah comes nearer, we don't even have torches to chase it away!"

Bhakti did not say anything. The rustling sound stopped, and all was quiet. The girls went back to sleep thinking the cheetah had gone away.

The next morning, they came to know that robbers had looted the village nearby. They had gone past the girls' tent. That was the rustling sound they had heard. They had mistaken it to be the cheetah.

Bhakti now answered, "If the torches had not been blown out by the wind, the robbers  would have attacked us. God blesses us all the time!"

Now Bhakti also answered Samshaya's first question, "If someone had given us a place to stay in the village, we would have also been there and we would have been robbed! God blesses us all the time."

Samshaya was very shaken by what had happened. This time, she joined Bhakti to pray and thank God.