Blessings from Somewhere

I have a weird hangup. I don’t like to talk about my blessings a lot. I appreciate them, but I feel odd talking about them.

That’s a shame, because as a Christian, I should be talking about the blessings God brings to me in the midst of struggles in this world. Because it’s sometimes through seeing our blessings that people who aren’t Christian sometimes want to learn more or may feel drawn to considering Christ.

There have been so many times that I have gotten an insight at just the right time. Or been delayed in doing something I planned to only to find that the delay allowed me to get some greater blessing I would have missed otherwise. Or the many times, particularly early in my marriage, when I would be in a huge bind with something and not enough money to handle the problem, and that would be when I would get a surprise freelance assignment or a gift or something else, almost always in an amount so close to what I needed that it seemed too coincidental to be anything but a blessing from on high.

Or the fact that my house is now paid off.

Mind you, it wasn’t more than a few months ago I was afraid I might not have a house soon. That’s how hairy finances have been.

But in the midst of a time when it is hard enough to keep the utilities on and meeting some other financial requirement is eating at my ever shrinking income, making payments on the house was becoming harder and harder. It seemed almost impossible.

And then my dad talked with someone who had an idea and helped him work some magic that got this house’s mortgage totally paid off.

There’s no reason that should have happened. Lord knows I probably don’t really deserve it. But it happened, and now all I have to worry about are taxes and insurance.

I feel weird saying this, not because I feel some sense of shame that someone else bailed me out (my heavenly father and my earthly one) but because I know so many people are struggling, just as I continue to in many ways other than the house.

People I know who are having relationship problems or terrible health woes and so much else, and I have this huge burden lifted. I feel bad in a sense feeling good about it.

But it’s a blessing, and one that I should be sharing because I truly believe it was God at work here, and I shouldn’t be shy about making that known.

7 thoughts on “Blessings from Somewhere

  1. The First Domino

    “There’s no reason that should have happened. Lord knows I probably don’t really deserve it. But it happened, and now all I have to worry about are taxes and insurance.

    “I feel weird saying this, not because I feel some sense of shame that someone else bailed me out (my heavenly father and my earthly one) but because I know so many people are struggling, just as I continue to in many ways other than the house.”

    Deacon, thanks for your candor. Think of your blessing in this way: you’re one less person God has to help with his housing situation.

    As to the part about you “probably don’t really deserve it.” Remember what the Father said to the prodigal son: “And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.”

    I know that you think you should, but you dont’ have to limit what you ask for, or what you take. “All that I have” is not going to run out, and you’re not going to be scolded if you ask for more than you think you deserve.

    “Ask, and it shall be given you.”

    I don’t see any restrictions here on what to ask for, or the amount.

    Namaste

    Reply
  2. blackgirlinmaine

    God uses many different channels and vessels to answer our prayers and take care of our needs. In this case your heavenly father used your earthly father as the vehicle for providing for your needs. What an amazing blessing and testimony, to go from wondering whether you will have a roof over your head period to having a house paid off and no winning lotto ticket was involved.

    Reply
  3. Deacon Blue

    You’re right, First Domino, about not putting limits on asking for help or blessings. I think the key is less the size of what we ask for than the intent of our asking. i.e. Is it selfishness we’re after or something more substantive and worthy than that.

    Thanks BGIM, for the reminder. I’m still hoping for that winning lotto ticket, too. I spend a buck on a quick pick roughly once every three months You know, just in case. 😉

    Reply
  4. The First Domino

    “I think the key is less the size of what we ask for than the intent of our asking. i.e. Is it selfishness we’re after or something more substantive and worthy than that.” DB

    Perhaps, but let me remind you of the rest of the story. The prodigal son asked His Father for that “portion of goods” which falleth to Him. And the Father complied: “And he divided unto them his living.”

    Because the “younger” asked, both sons received. His act appears to be a pretty selfish one to me, but I don’t think that that is the point of the story.

    “Is it selfishness we’re after or something more substantive and worthy than that.”

    Deac, the asking is always a selfish act. And it doesn’t matter, except maybe to you, whether the asking is “something more substantive and worthy.” The Father is going to leave that part up to you. He’s merely going to comply with your request.

    Remember: The Father did not inquire as to how his younger son planned to use “his living,” or probe his reasons for asking. Nor did He counsel him, nor say that his asking or leaving was ill-advised. The Father merely complied. God always says Yes. Love never says No.

    Now, we all know how the story ends. And although the story has a happy ending, the prodigal son did, after wasting his “substance,” experience many hardships–all of which were of his own making.

    Remember: Upon his return, the Father, neither condemned nor punished his son for his misdeeds–for his profligacy–but only showed his returning son His unlimited, and unconditional Compassion (to the stay-at-home son’s chagrin), and bestowed upon him All the Goods that he had surrendered by leaving:

    “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry….”

    One of the morals of the story: the prodigal son met with no refusals from his Father. His only mistake was in leaving home and venturing “into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.”

    Had he stayed home, close to the source of his “goods,” he would have had All That The Father Had, without any questions asked.

    I know what I’m going to say next is probably going to fly in the face of what you wish to accept as your reality.

    I think God is telling us here: We can Have Anything we Wish [portion of goods, or the All That I Have], Be Anything we Wish [profligate, or a stay-at-Home-Son], and Do Anything we Wish [venture into a “far country,” where we can merely take the portion that befalleth us, or stay at Home and Have It All.].

    The key is Not to hurt the self, or another, with what we’re Having, Being, or Doing, unless we wish to fill our “belly with the husks that the swine did eat.” Otherwise, God is constantly reminding us: “Son, All That I Have Is Thine.”

    We’re the ones, then, that rationalize what we can have, and put limits on what we take from this Inexhaustible Source, not God.

    Namaste

    Reply
  5. Big Man

    That’s a blessing for real man. I always tell myself that I’ve been blessed far beyond what I could ever deserve. Every time I take an accounting of my life, I see blessings and more blessings.

    Reply
  6. TitforTat

    Nice blessing. I think you should give more credit to your fellow man though. Seems like they were the ones who got it done. Belief in God is all fine and dandy, but like the old saying goes. “A bird in hand is better than 2 in the bush”

    Reply
  7. Deacon Blue

    @ Big Man,

    Yeah…it’s a shame though how quickly I forget my blessings, both large and small, as soon as some annoyance drops into my life, regardless of size.

    @ TitforTat,

    Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t give credit to God for every little (or even big) thing that comes into my life. But in this case, the solution that was suggested wasn’t something I would have ever thought of, nor would my Dad. My dad has been very generous in helping us during lean times, but this isn’t something he would have ever thought of…and for it to come out of the blue like this…at THIS time…speaks to me of God’s hand.

    It’s like when I’ve had past troubles.

    Oh dear, I need $2,000 for a lawyer. I don’t have $2,000 and I don’t have time to waste.

    And then, from out of nowhere, I get an opportunity to get my hands on almost exactly $2,000.

    Oh my, this thing in my house is broken and it’s kind of hard to live without.

    And then, a friend calls out of nowhere and says, “I have this extra thing I don’t need. No anyone who needs it?”

    That’s what I’m talking about. I believe coincidence happens, but for it to happen with the perfect timing and frequency that it has in my life defies logic. Either God’s hand is at work or I have the power to subsonsciously influence reality.

    Take your pick. 😉

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Deacon Blue Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>