Learning in the interim periods of life

Philemon 15  "Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good-"

The day-to-day events in our lives form our perspective on reality.  Our scope and vision of the bigger picture is often very limited because we don't have the ability to see what the future holds.  If our relationships are going well or are going poorly at the moment, that is our reality.  It is difficult for us to take a longer-term view and to be comforted if the current situation is not what we want it to be. 

Paul is writing here to Philemon, whose slave Onesimus had run away.  Onesimus wound up in Rome, where he met Paul and was led to Christ.  Now Paul is sending Onesimus back to Philemon not simply as property but as a brother in Christ.  Philemon probably had been lamenting over the loss of Onesimus as one might lament over misplacing money.  It is upsetting and rarely do we believe that the situation will turn out even better than it was before.  We are simply focused on finding what has been lost and getting it back in our possession and control. 

But what if something's temporary absence meant that, upon its return, it was more fully ours than it had been?  Wouldn't that trade be worth it?  God can do wonderous works in an interim period when something (or someone) is lost to us.  He can bring them back to us more fully than we had them before.  Don't become so laser-focused on recovering what has been lost that you lose sight of what God is doing in your life and what He might have in store for you in the future.  Even if what has been lost is regained, what did God teach you in the interim?