I have been processing over the idea of how I, how we as American Jesus-followers perceive blessings.
Blessings from God.

I’ve witnessed in myself and others how quick we are to conclude what is and is not a blessing from God. Through the course of life we see situations and circumstances that, from the outside do not seem to be blessings. When we don’t see the blessing we expect or desire, we tend to complain and whine.

I have been thinking, what if the context of how we perceive a blessing from God is totally off base? What if I, what if Christians, are viewing blessings from a blurry lens.

Maybe we’ve let the world infiltrate our hearts, haze over eyes and we’ve missed God’s fingerprints over our lives this whole time. What if we’ve missed his love, his faithfulness, his true blessings just because our wayward hearts have been fooled to think we are losing out on something in this world?

Maybe I have been missing the actual blessings in my life this whole time because I was expecting the wrong gifts.

What if the actual blessings from God in our lives are the things he withholds from us?
God’s withholdings a blessing? Yes.
Because in the withholding can be found his protection over us.

What if we are withholding our praise to God due to our perceived lack of blessings from Him? But what if, what if the withholdings of certain things in our life is where the praise we owe him is actually due?

What if when raising my fist at what I was missing I should have been bowing low to the King in praise for his gifts of the withholdings?

Maybe when my bank account sat empty that was the blessing, not the curse.
Maybe when life became hard, that was the blessing of him loving me, changing me.
Maybe when their was loneliness, that was the blessing of a deeper relationship with him.

As I have sat in this season of life I have been contemplating all that I once thought blessings from God entailed. Prior to this year I would have easily believed blessings as physical and spiritual gifts that brought me happiness.  But I think I see it differently now. His blessings are not always what we think–momentary gifts on earth to make our lives comfortable and easy. Don’t get me wrong, they absolutely can be those types of blessings. However, blessings in our lives are far greater than temporary gifts on this earth, they are ones that change us to be more like Him.

Maybe in the moments of what felt like defeat, lies the hidden blessings of life. Because when the grave looked like defeat and death came knocking–the true blessing came after the darkness of death. Around the corner life was found, death was defeated.

The blessing was the death.
Jesus death a blessing?
Because without his death, there would be no life.
Eternal everlasting life.

I have changed how I praise God. I, we, need to be thanking God for the blessings of the withholdings of certain things in our life, because life can be found in the darkness of death. Through redemption of all things, life is found when it seems like all hope is lost. Light shines brightest through the dark.

The Bible is not a record of good people earning God’s blessing. The Bible is about sinners, dead people receiving life and God’s blessing because Jesus earned it for us.

I truly deserve nothing yet have access to the King who freely gives and takes away.

“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Job 1:20