The Torah begins its discussion of blessings and curses with the word “Re’eh”—“See,” in the singular, and then continues with “lifneichem”—“before you,” in the plural. Why the change from singular to plural?
Perhaps the Torah is teaching us that when something happens to us, we cannot always know whether it is truly a blessing or a curse. We may experience a setback and immediately assume it is a tragedy, yet we cannot see the entire picture. Only G-d knows how each event ultimately fits into His plan.
There is a story of a man who learned the language of birds from King Solomon. The birds revealed that his sheep, then his house, and finally he himself would suffer disaster. Each time, he tried to avoid the smaller loss—until he learned that those losses may have served as atonement and prevented something worse.
We often judge events by what we can see in the moment. But our perspective is limited.
When life doesn't go according to plan, we should remember: we may see the problem, but only G-d sees the entire picture.