blessings

From Come Away My Beloved, Frances J. Roberts

In the morning, lift your heart in song. In the evening, let your requests be made known. And My peace will keep you, and My grace shall be your support.

Turn away from the diverging path; never fear to follow Me. For as the shepherd leads his sheep, you will know with certainty that I go before you. I will bring you to a place of broad pastures, of enlarged vision, of increased fruitfulness, and abounding blessings--and nothing shall prevent me.

 Lately, I've been asking God to bless me. And there was a part of me that felt guilty for it. I knew I was already beyond blessed. I didn't lose my job this year. I didn't suffer a traumatic death in my family. I didn't sit on the brink of starvation, or in the dark and cold at night. I've actually had it pretty good. Even before the international crisis of Haiti's earthquake struck, I knew that I was luckier than most, just by living where I live and being born into the family I was, and I know that I take it for granted. Really, there's no reason not to be happy or content.

But I also know that God wants to bless us. He does. Look at Matthew 7: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."

I read something interesting by Brother Lawrence recently, who wrote:

God has infinite treasures to give us. Yet, a little tangible devotion, which passes away in a moment satisfies us. How blind we are, since in this way we tie God's hands, and we stop the abundance of His grace! But when he finds a soul penetrated with living faith, He pours out His grace on it in abundance. God's grace is like a torrent. When it is stopped from taking an ordinary course, it looks for another outlet, and when it finds one, it spreads out with impetuosity and abundance. (emphasis mine)

It got me to thinking. Am I my own road block? Am I satisfied with too little? How much more does God want to give to us, but we never even think to ask?

I may not know what to ask for, but that's okay. Romans 8:26-27 says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

I'm still getting used to feeling okay about asking God to bless me, and part of that means remembering to acknowledge all the ways in which He already has, and to ask his blessing not only for myself, but in intercessory prayer for my family, friends, even the world.

maxim

A soul is the more dependent on grace, the higher the perfection to which it aspires; and the grace of GOD is the more needful for each moment, as without it the soul can do nothing. The world, the flesh, and the devil join forces and assault the soul so straitly and so untiringly that, without humble reliance on the ever-present aid of GOD, they drag the soul down in spite of all resistance. Thus to rely seems hard to nature, but grace makes it become easy, and brings with it joy.

-Brother Lawrence, The Spiritual Maxims

ROY G BIV

I saw a rainbow today. It was unexpected. And short. A brief burst of color in an otherwise bleary sky. It wasn't even wet. I was headed toward the freeway, and the whole sky was gray and cloudy. All of a sudden, there was this one hill hit with a burst of sunlight. Alongside it the rainbow. Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Indigo. Violet. All that jazz.

I've been reading through the Bible with my women's Bible study this year (our goal is to read the whole thing in the year 2008!), and recently read the strange, folklore-ish account of Noah and the ark. And the rainbow that God gave him as a sign that He would never again destroy the earth on account of man. Never again would water swallow up our existence. Can you imagine being Noah and seeing that first rainbow for the very first time? I like to imagine it bigger, more brilliant, and vibrant, and colorful than any rainbow any of us has ever seen.

What better symbol of God's grace and hope?