You just lost your job even though everyone told you that you had been doing really good work.A relationship that looked so promising blew up in your face.A project that you have worked on for a long time and you,yourself, are convinced could make a real contribution to humanity, gets no traction.The bureaucratic institution that you are dealing with,is not considering your reality.Ever had that feeling ?It doesn’t make any sense?!

Then a lot of people around you try to convince you there is a good,concrete reason why it didn’t work.The boss was jealous of you and felt threatened so he fired you.You were being a cad in the relationship or your values are too different.That’s why the relationship didn’t work.Your project is too idealistic,too ‘pie in the sky’ that’s why no one is interested.Bureaucracies are like that.They just don’t listen!But somehow the explanations don’t add up.They don’t satisfy your need to understand.

So what’s going on?! You’re asking the wrong question often.You’ve got to formulate it otherwise-in terms of your relationship to the Creator-to God.Ok, you can use the term”universe’ if you want to but somehow that is less satisfying because it is missing the personal sense of intention ,will and wisdom and even compassion(despite the pain) that is implicit within the term God.

So what is the real question? It often sounds like”What is God showing me,what is He teaching me through this apparent failure?Remember Surat al Baqara at the beginning of the Quran”We(god in the plural) know what you know not” So be humble and ask yourself the question.If you do so sincerely, you may be surprised.The answer is subtle ,often,but it’s close at hand.Try it out.Salaams,Ibrahim