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Do you ever feel like you don’t glorify God enough and tell others about how He has blessed you? I recently realized that I was guilty of just that! The other day I was paying bills. After paying everything that was due and calculating what we would need for the rest of the month, I sighed. As usual, there was just enough, nothing extra. Why, I wondered, is it always, just enough?
And immediately I was ashamed when I realized how ungrateful I was! Then, when I did a mental check list as to how we had spent our money over the previous two weeks, I realized that not only did we have enough, we had more than enough! After our regular expenses, and in addition to our regular giving for our church and missions, we had given to a family in need because the mother has cancer with a grim outlook, we filled two shoe boxes with goodies and necessities for Operation Christmas Child, and we bought groceries for our extended family Thanksgiving dinner, and had even gone out to eat as a treat for our family.
As always, God had taken care of our needs and also provided so that we could give to others in their need. How could I complain about that? In the following days, I reflected on all of the special ways that God had provided for our family in the last few years. Here are just a few:
- Not long after I was laid off from my job of several years, I was making a grocery list for a gathering of family for our son’s birthday party. I was in the depressing process of trying to figure out what to eliminate from my list so that I would have enough money to cover the grocery bill when I set the list aside and opened my Bible to do my daily devotional. When I opened my Bible and turned to the section I would be reading from, I found a $50 bill! As you can imagine, the tears instantly began to flow when I found that gift. That was three years ago, and we still have no idea who put it there, but God used them to be a special blessing to us.
- We had been a one-car (well, minivan) family for almost the entire time that we have been married. When we needed a second vehicle because of my husband’s new job, we were not in a position to purchase another vehicle. The idea of trying to find an affordable car was so fresh that we hadn’t even begun to pray about it. When my husband casually mentioned to someone at church that we were going to need one, that person gave us a car! And not just a car, but a nice looking, though older, very reliable car! We were so overwhelmed with that blessing!
- A little later, we were in a position that we needed to sell our house because it was too expensive for us to keep living there. We made peace with that, and since we were considering relocating to another area, we did not want to purchase another house until we knew what our family would be doing. Unfortunately, we were not able to find an affordable place for us to rent while we figured things out. A family from our church invited us to live in, at an affordable price, their second home that they were in the process of selling. After a few months, that one sold and another family who was also selling a second house, offered it to us to rent until we knew what we were doing. On top of all that, both families helped us move! Later, when we realized we would be staying in the area, God provided a wonderful home for us to purchase at a price that we could afford. The house itself has most of the features that we really wished for, but considering our position, didn’t feel like we should pray for! And, when we faced the daunting task of moving for the third time in less than a year, over 40 people from our church helped us move out of the rental house and into our new house in just TWO hours! Of course, through all of this, helping with the moves and encouraging us, was our family. Each time we had to move, they came along side of us, without complaint, and helped us move on on to the next stage!
The examples above were huge blessings to us, but I could go on and on with all of the wonderful “small” blessings that God has provided for us. From random acts of kindness from friends and strangers to money arriving in the mailbox just when we needed it, God has been so good to us! And there are the blessings that I just can’t explain that are in the “fishes and loaves” category. I’m talking about times when the checkbook math just didn’t make sense, and yet somehow it just worked and we had plenty to meet our needs.
I feel, that in a way, I am bragging about all the good things that have happened to us. But honestly, some of the biggest blessings have come during very difficult times. The difficult period might not have been over, but we knew that God was there, working in our lives.
I hope that you take this as it is intended – giving glory to God for his goodness and provision! I realized that I have been quietly praising God to my husband, or to a friend here or there, but I have really missed the point if I do not glorify Him openly and publicly! So here it is!
Ephesians 3:20-21 ~ “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
I would love it if you would take a moment to leave a comment about how God has provided for you in an unexpected or special way!
