Angels or Demons?

A few days ago, while talking to a friend, I learned that one of her co-workers is hoping to get a new job which she applied for last week.
This lady-I will name her Lauren to maintain her privacy-has held on to the same job for over a decade; although she loves what she does, she feels as if there are no challenges left for her in her current position. In addition to the general feeling of being on a dead-end street when it comes to her professional growth, Lauren has also been having trouble in dealing with a new supervisor in her office.
She has been there for so long that she can attend to her job requirements with eyes closed, yet the supervisor continues to breathe over her neck making her life miserable. When I spoke with her, Lauren readily admitted that the hellish supervisor was the main reason why she set out looking for another job. Had she not been looking, she would have missed the wonderful opportunity of advancement this new position offers, and would have probably chosen to remain in the unrewarding, yet familiar type of work. The figure of the supervisor was a catalyst for the change, and the feelings she triggered in Lauren were the fuel needed to nourish the flame of courage necessary to start her engine.
In our lives we all do that a lot. When blessings come knocking on our door, we often mistake them for a crude joke of destiny. As hard as it to recognize a blessing when it is clad in unpleasant garments, we should always assume that everything happens for a specific reason. We pray for change, yet we get angry and annoyed while the road to our desired wish is being paved.
A few years ago, I read a wonderful book which related the journey of a spiritual Master. One day, the Master was visited by the town drunk, who was belligerent and disrespectful, waiting only for a chance to start an argument. The Holy Man asked him if he could pray for him, and only demanded one favor: from then on, the drunken man would have to accept everything that manifested in his life, whether it was good or bad, without questioning it. After a prayer is sent out, the Holy Man explained, any unfolding event is simply one more step toward achieving one’s heart desire.
If we pray for more financial affluence, a sack of money won’t just appear in the middle of our kitchen table; rather, we may have to lose our present job position to free ourselves from the chains that hold us back, and have the opportunity to find more financially rewarding employment. Similarly, if we ask to become more courageous, or better parents, we may first have to go through the ‘basic training’ of a few unpleasant experiences, before we can develop the attributes we wish for.
All the people we meet, and all the apparent trials we endure hold the potential of helping us become the type of person we want to be. Everything is placed on our path for our greater good, whether we do or don’t recognize its value in the greater scheme of things.
We may not understand why something is happening, but we can’t judge the importance that such an event might have in our life.
Maybe it is time that we all learn that even demons, most often, are nothing more than just angels in disguise.