As Christians, we are daughters of a loving Father who takes great pleasure in heaping abundant blessings on His children. Unfortunately, too often we have very lofty views of what a blessing is and we miss all of the small blessings that are showered on us daily.
I think this is rooted in our lack of comprehension of who God is, of who we are, and of what He has done for us. If we are living in the gospel, if we are reminding ourselves every day that God saved us while we were wretched, loathsome, dead creatures who despised the very One who could give us life, our lives never seem as ‘bad’ as they did before. If we truly see our salvation, the gospel, God as the ultimate and all-encompassing gift then we are much less likely to take blessings from God for granted.
When I drove to Parkside every morning, I passed a long stretch of the lake. I was continually amazed at how different it always looked! Every day was beautiful and unique. I found myself looking forward to that vision each morning, which is saying something since I’m usually pretty grumpy for the first hour or so that I am awake. One day it hit me: God created this lake to glorify Himself. The lake glorified God by its very existence. I was also created to glorify God and I do this by being utterly satisfied in Him. This lake was a blessing. God didn’t have to create it in such a way that it was a unique sight each day. God didn’t have to create it to be beautiful to look at. God didn’t have to have me live in an area that I got to drive past it every day. And here I was, daily enjoying God’s blessing and never once praising Him for it.
It was a true breakthrough for me. Every good thing is from above but so very often we forget to thank God for the good and instead only turn to Him in times of trials and hardships and need. I’ll pray my little heart out if I think I might be late for work but it is not my first thought to thank Him when traffic is good and I arrive safely half an hour early. I might pray for good weather if I wake up to a cold and drizzling day but forget to thank Him when I wake up to sunshine.
Ladies, let us take our joy in our Lord. Let us see all blessings as from His hands.
I think this is rooted in our lack of comprehension of who God is, of who we are, and of what He has done for us. If we are living in the gospel, if we are reminding ourselves every day that God saved us while we were wretched, loathsome, dead creatures who despised the very One who could give us life, our lives never seem as ‘bad’ as they did before. If we truly see our salvation, the gospel, God as the ultimate and all-encompassing gift then we are much less likely to take blessings from God for granted.
When I drove to Parkside every morning, I passed a long stretch of the lake. I was continually amazed at how different it always looked! Every day was beautiful and unique. I found myself looking forward to that vision each morning, which is saying something since I’m usually pretty grumpy for the first hour or so that I am awake. One day it hit me: God created this lake to glorify Himself. The lake glorified God by its very existence. I was also created to glorify God and I do this by being utterly satisfied in Him. This lake was a blessing. God didn’t have to create it in such a way that it was a unique sight each day. God didn’t have to create it to be beautiful to look at. God didn’t have to have me live in an area that I got to drive past it every day. And here I was, daily enjoying God’s blessing and never once praising Him for it.
It was a true breakthrough for me. Every good thing is from above but so very often we forget to thank God for the good and instead only turn to Him in times of trials and hardships and need. I’ll pray my little heart out if I think I might be late for work but it is not my first thought to thank Him when traffic is good and I arrive safely half an hour early. I might pray for good weather if I wake up to a cold and drizzling day but forget to thank Him when I wake up to sunshine.
Ladies, let us take our joy in our Lord. Let us see all blessings as from His hands.
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1 comment:
This is a real eye opener for me. I am usually so stressed out all of the time that I do not even notice when God allows things to work out. I expect everything to go wrong all day and most of the time it does, but I need to stop and notice God's little blessings in my life. Thanks for your insight!
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