Do you notice that the times “Why God?” forms in our hearts and dances in our brains are most often the times when we are not thrilled with the path life might be taking at the moment? If you and I were to glance back over our shoulders at the last blessing we noticed, would we find the “Why God?” poised in our souls or on the tip of our tongues?
I chose the word “noticed” in conjunction with blessing because I truly believe that His good works are our constant companions. And I take Him at His Word when He says that He came to give us life, not a less-than, grit your teeth, hang on by your fingernail kind of life, no Sweet One our Savior blesses with life to the FULL . . .
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
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The blessing of HIM literally lives in everyone who has called on the Name of Jesus Christ and Girlfriend, you just can’t get any “fuller” than that.
Whether we have eyes that desire to see the good gifts or hearts that ache to acknowledge the blessing, is a different question all together.
So, when might be the last time you, when might be the last time I, had eyes to see the blessings, the good gifts of God, and said
“Why God? . . . Why have you blessed me so?”
When was the last occasion we just shook our heads in wonder that the God of the universe would stoop down from heaven specifically for us? To show such kindness toward us? To dote on us the way He does? To flat out declare His heart for us in real and tangible ways?
The last post I wrote about the idea of being “forgiven much” and I asked you to consider that the concept of being forgiven much or being forgiven little—originates in the mind of man – not in the mind of God. It’s a human perspective based on the human penchant to size things up according to our own standards. We crawl up on the throne of our lives, look around us, measure life, and then we decide – we make ourselves the judges.
And it seems to me, that this inclination to view life from a temporal, human vantage point invades all of our thinking – including our perception of blessings. There are songs written about the “blessings in disguise” and “the picture we can’t see” that really bring home the notion, and dare I say the truth, that blessings often don’t look the way our human minds think they should and they certainly do not feel to our hearts the way we expect them to.
Who would think that a blessing would be painful? Who would think that good gifts would make our hearts ache? Who would think that blessing is present when God says “No” to our prayers? We want Him to bless a certain way, to choose only those good gifts for us that feel a certain way—
- We want our blessings to behave! And might it be, we want our God to behave as well?
This particular thing is a blessing because it turned out how I wanted it to turn out. That particular thing has a beautiful red bow on it—it looks exactly like I think a blessing should look. Everything unfolded just the way I wanted it to and it feels sweet to my soul –what a blessing! I look. I measure. I judge. Either forgetting or ignoring that my God has a view from outside space and time that I couldn’t comprehend even if I could see it. Either forgetting or ignoring that my God, in His Sovereignty, thinks with a heart and mind that I can’t fathom. I forget and I ignore that my God cannot be unfaithful to His nature and I fail to remember that His nature is LOVE. And I look, I measure, I judge.
It’s been a week on Biddinger Boulevard. Brett’s wound, the one he has been struggling with since November 2012 – yes, 2012 – has taken another step backward. I was at the hospital this week for x-rays on the lung that collapsed because of pain and breathing issues. Britt is still enduring the side effects of the six month course of treatment for the endometriosis and I think wondering if the cure is worse than the disease. We watched good friends go through the agony of saying goodbye to a loved one. We sat with folks who cried over the choices of their children. Our souls were rocked when a family member rejected the truth of the Savior.
I bet your week was similar. Life – messy life – was active all around you. It pressed in on every side and maybe it just didn’t wear the face of blessing you or I expected it to wear. Maybe the Apostle Paul was experiencing those same kind of feelings and trying to focus his eyes and his heart with some godly vision when he wrote 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 . . .
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
- He knew what the situation looked like to his human eyes but more importantly . . . .HE KNEW HIS GOD.
He chose not to look, measure, and judge from his finite human mind. He surrendered his heart and his vision to the Heart and the Vision of the One He knew to be LOVE.
And a few verses later that same pen, full of the Holy Spirit, –living life to the full — with the breath of God in every stroke wrote . . . 2 Corinthians 4:15-18
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart.
Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
- The blessing did not wear the face he expected it to, but he looked past the face and into the Heart of the Great I AM.
See the adjustment of his vision. See the surrender of his own limited heart. See him grab a hold of what he knows to be true, fall to his knees and declare that he trusts the One who holds eternity in His hand. And Girlfriend, the Heart of the Great I AM beats to bless you today. Lives to bless you today. Loves to bless you today.
Sweet One, the I AM IS!
2 Samuel 22:17-18 . . . .
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He is the One who reaches into the deep waters and rescues you.
Psalm 66:12 . . . .
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He is One who brings you through fire and water to the place of abundance.
Psalm 116:7 . . . .
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He is the One who has been good to your soul.
Hebrew 6:19 . . . .
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He is the One who anchors you firm and secure in any storm.
1 Peter 5:7 . . . .
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He is the One who wants your troubles because He cares for you.
Romans 8:28 . . . .
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He is the One who works all things together for the good of those who love Him.
Oh Beloved, the I AM is just IT!
And blessed is she who believes that what the Lord has said to her – read that list again, verses from the Old and verses from the New—will be accomplished.
Sweet One, it is done. You believe and you cling to every true and accurate word of God. The blessing has been given to you and He has come to make His home with you. Resist the temptation to look, measure and judge with your own eyes. Look past the face of your circumstance and trust the Heart that beats to bless you. Fix your eyes on Glory, lift your heart toward heaven and KNOW the Heart of the One who knows you.
glimpsedglory 