Ever wonder why God blesses? If you’re a “glass is half full” kind of a thinker, you are more apt to recognize the MANY ways God has blessed you. I’m more of a realist, I like to think (that sounds WAY better than a pessimist). The glass is BOTH half empty and half full, the way I see it. I find myself having to make continual strides towards being thankful and recognizing God’s amazingness in my life. If I don’t, I’ll miss what He’s doing. I much prefer to see things the way He sees things.
One way I do this is to realize that there is always something to give thanks for in a situation – always! Even a terrible situation. One that comes to my mind often is that God is constant. He doesn’t change, like I do. I’m all over the place; one day being faithful, the next having a rebellious heart. Not so with God! He never changes and the truth of His word endures forever–and for that I am blessed and can be so thankful. We also cannot fail to continually give praise to the author and finisher of our salvation for making us a new creation in Him. Our home is heaven, and it awaits us. Thank you, Jesus! This is another thing for which we can (and should) always give thanks.
My children and I are reading the story of Moses and the children of Israel. We are at the part where the children of Israel are punished for their rebellion and cannot enter the land of promise for 40 years. They’ve come out of Egypt, in which they were rescued from the bondage and slavery they experienced there. Because they cannot enter the land yet, they wander. They travel through the hot desert, with Moses as their leader.
I image the desert was very hot, and water was sparse. The children cry out for water, in a rather grumbling kind of way, much like they have always done. God hears them, in spite of their grumbling, and instructs Moses to gather the people and speak to a rock so that the Lord could provide for their needs (yet again) by giving water, miraculously. Moses and Aaron gather the people and say to them,
“Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” Numbers 19:10 NKJV
Moses then lifts his hand, and instead of speaking to the rock, as God commanded, he hits the rock with his staff, twice. Water comes forth from the rock, in abundance, for all the people. However, God tells Moses and Aaron that they didn’t reverence God in the sight of the people, therefore Moses and Aaron would not enter the promised land now either. Moses and Aaron had rebellious hearts of their own–and did not honor the Lord, nor obey.
After hearing the story, my youngest son asked, “Mom, why did God give them water, even when they had disobeyed?”
“Well,” I said, grateful that the Lord gave me HIS answer to this question prior to our study. “Sometimes we have blessings because God is rewarding our obedience to him. And sometimes we have blessings because of God’s grace. Even in spite of our rebellion, and disobedient hearts, God blesses us because He is a God of grace and mercy, giving us things we don’t deserve and not giving us the things we do deserve.”
I’m in awe over this truth!! I’ve been blessed in many ways–beyond words. But I haven’t always been obedient. WOW, that God would bless me in spite of me.
Grace is getting something we don’t deserve. Mercy is “not” getting something we do deserve.
God’s blessing doesn’t always mean God’s approval. We see that from this story. God didn’t approve of the way Moses conducted himself. But He blessed the people anyway. It’s His mercy. God IS mercy. It was in His wonderful mercy toward us that He made a way for us to be reconciled to Himself. Even though sin had entered the world at the beginning of time, God wasn’t willing that we should have to stay in our sinful state. He offered His Son, Jesus, as a ransom for our lives. Jesus paid the price for our sin. We didn’t do anything to deserve it. We cannot do anything to deserve it. He offers us salvation through Jesus Christ as a free gift. A gift we could never earn ourselves. But because He loves us, He has extended to us His grace and His mercy.
The blessings of God are abundant. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). He is love. He blesses His children. And today, I am especially grateful that He blesses me in spite of me.
