Blessings – goodchristianfiction

The gospel music sister act, Mary Mary, has a hit song titled “Go Get It” that is all about being your time to claim the blessings which are promised to those who believe. The chorus proclaims:

Go get it, Go Get it, Go get it, Go get it, Go get it
Go get yo blessing
Go get it, Go get it, Go get it, Go get it, Go get it, Go get it
It’s yo time, it’s yo time, it’s yo time, it’s yo time

At first, you may think, why do I have to go get my blessing? Isn’t it coming to me from God? But this response to the song’s command would make the mistake of confusing the concept of blessing with happiness.

Happiness is a particularly modern invention. If you were to go back even two generations to your grandparents’ day (assuming you’re 40+ reading this), you might even get a strange look for an answer if you asked about happiness.

It is easy to fall into the trap of equating happiness with things, especially in the consumer-driven world in which we Americans live. But then, we have done the exact opposite to what Christ admonished us to do, for wealth of things on this earth is treasure stored that perishes, rather than the treasures of heaven which we really should be seeking.

More than one good sermon I’ve heard in recent years hinges on the spiritual truth that God is not concerned with our happiness. Instead, God has His priorities set upon our claiming of His blessings.

In order to wrap my mind around the difference between happiness and blessings, I began by pulling out my Nave’s Topical Bible. In it, I found more than 700 verses that relate to God’s blessings, under such categories as:

Responsive blessings of the Law
Divine, contingent upon obedience
Spiritual, from God
Temporal, from God
Temporal, from God exemplified

As I began reading through these verses early this morning, I was immediately struck by a pattern to them that basically boils down to this:

For those who follow the commands of our loving God, whatever we have will always be enough, whether we be overflowing with goods or sick and destitute. For those who ignore the invitation of that same loving God, even the greatest wealth of the land will never be enough.

What does enough look like when we are believers in Christ? I believe it looks like “the peace that surpasses understanding” (Philippians 4:7), like the mother who has lost her only child but can find the strength to praise God for the years with which He blessed her with a soul that was always God’s to begin with, like the messenger of the Word who can be spat upon, beaten, abused and turn the other cheek for His name’s sake, like the person suffering from the chemical imbalance of depression who makes herself get up on Sunday morning and worship a God whose purpose is beyond her understanding but to be believed.

So, since designer handbags only lead us down the yellow brick road to a wrinkled old man behind a curtain, the ultimate illusion, it makes sense to seek God’s blessings instead of the commercialized message of happiness.

I heard a sermon this week by Rick Atchley of the Hills Church of Christ in which he encouraged his listeners to repeat the phrase: God is “awe-full.” Worried? Tired? Sick? Think about God’s awe-fullness, and you will begin to feel better. Christ promised us, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27).

Blessing means being in a place where whatever you have is enough because you have the promise of God. The peace that comes with putting God first by loving Jesus and doing what Jesus told us to do is so filling that whatever we have on this earth is enough.

On the flip side, without God and His peace, you can be the richest person on the planet and still it won’t be enough.

Blessing equals FULLNESS. And Christ wants us to live life to the full (John 10:10).

This past Mother’s Day weekend, I got a real opportunity to stop and smell the roses. Well, since I was on some acreage in Shep, Texas, (which is outside of Abilene, for those who don’t know) it was more like the opportunity to smell the cacti flowers and wildflowers I couldn’t identify.

Still, roses or Indian brush, the ability to be out in nature among bright blue skies, fluffly, white clouds overhead, only the sounds of our feet crunching in the dry grass and the insects buzzing, was a rare opportunity that I truly relished. Even though the creek on the property where we were walking was still quite dry, it still offered tranquil moments as it gurgled. With the family gathered around me, it was truly a wonderful day.

God’s blessings sneak up on us just like my lazy Sunday. I didn’t really plan to get to walk around on land that once was the site of a Butterfield Stage route stop, viewing carvings in rock from the late 1800s where travelers literally left a mark on their ways further West. Looking at dead trees lying crumpled in pieces, wild grasses re-claiming them, at fully-canopied trees reaching out over the water, casting shadows that promised a cool breeze away from the bright sun, my whole world was condensed into each, full breath. For that moment, at least, all was peace.

How often am I too busy to take those full breaths in my day-to-day life? And yet, God’s blessings are there for me to notice and enjoy every day–in the smile of a stranger, in the good news from the doctor, in the door being held open for me, in the call from a good friend. Sometimes, those blessings are more like the ability to remain standing when life presents you with some devastating news or the near-miss in your car that keeps you out of an accident.

Regardless, God’s blessings come so hard and fast that we really should take time each day to stop and count them. Some people do this through a thankfulness journal at the end of each day. Others do it through prayer. But what if we faced each day living every moment in full awareness of God’s current blessing? Would we be cocooned like I felt on that homestead in Winters, regardless of the challenges of day-to-day living? Think about what wonderful things we might accomplish for Him surrounded by such awareness.

This state of being is easier said than done, but anything worth doing takes great effort. And, of course, we can be assured that God will help us in the doing as well. Just another every moment blessing!