As I celebrated my birthday at the end of August, it was time to take an assessment of my life to this point and see the many ways that God has blessed me in large ways. I have a lovely wife, a college education, a place to live, relatively good health, and a host of other things that I can look back on and say, wow Lord, truly I am blessed! Maybe you’ve shared an experience similar to that at some point in your life, being able to recognize the many ways that God has blessed you.
After all, did you know that God’s first pronouncement to Adam and Eve is a blessing? (Genesis 1:22) Did you know that Jesus’ last action before ascending in Luke 24 was to bless his disciples? Or that the bible ends with a blessing (and a curse) in Revelation 22? The Scriptures are full of God’s pronouncement of blessing. However, in the midst of the struggles of life, it can be so difficult to feel or see the ways that I am indeed #blessed. The Scriptures would tell us that as God’s people in Christ Jesus we live in a reality of God constantly blessing us. As Paul says in Ephesians, God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” You, my friend, are indeed very blessed!
We live in this reality, but oftentimes we don’t embrace this reality. Hard stuff happens in life. It can be very easy to look at our pain instead of God’s promise. Even when we know God’s promises are good, it doesn’t always feel like it’s helping us deal with the pain and the struggles in the moment. What’s the remedy? It’s to look for the blessing. Are you curious to see the ways that God is currently blessing you and others? Maybe it is as easy as remaining curious and simply looking. I’m convinced we miss so much of what God is doing in our lives simply because we are too busy to pay attention to it. We don’t have to look hard to see some of the small ways that God is blessing us right now. It can be easy to be cynical and focus on the negative, but our God is the God of abundant and good blessing!
This week, don’t miss the small blessings of God because you were looking for a larger one. Instead, take moments in your day to reflect so you can tap into the reality that you are indeed blessed. Sometimes God’s blessings are simpler, smaller, and sweeter than we could imagine!
Pastor Seth Redden
High School Ministry