Blessed To Be A Blessing
What does it mean to be blessed to be a blessing? I guess each person reading this can derive their own conclusion. However, I like to think that we are blessed by God not just for ourselves or for our own benefit, but to indeed share those blessing with others. How we bless others can be accomplished in many different ways, and under various circumstances on the part of all parties involved. Sometimes we can be made aware of a particular need in which you can contribute. Other times you can be stretched out of your comfort zone in which you are prompted to act when you possibly would not voluntarily do so. Regardless of the circumstances, the outcome will result from the manner in which you choose to respond. Personally, I can recall many occasions in which I was blessed to be a blessing in a variety of situations. Some resulted from a tug at my heart strings, other times I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Holy Spirit moved me to act. Then there were times when I was literally asked by an individual for something in my possession they wanted or needed. A few of those times I recall being hard choices to make! I look back on it now and chuckle, but at the time it was no laughing matter — I was being asked to let go of something I had developed a special attachment. The challenge isn’t felt when we give out of our abundance, although that still qualifies as a blessing. But what about when you have just enough or in your eyes your storage is low? Trust me, I have been there more times than I care to count. Yet, I serve a God who has never failed me, in fact He has honored His Word throughout my entire life. I can declare as the Psalmist said, “I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread”. I get excited every time I revisit all the times that scripture has been manifested in my life! Even when it came down to something I desired, and didn’t have the wherewithal to obtain it but had a “plan” in my mind as to how to “work” towards getting it. So, God presented an opportunity, better yet, He put me in a position to make a choice whether to give or to hold on to what I had. I made the choice to “give”, and He made the choice to bless!
As I am writing this, I feel the Lord letting me know that there will be a part two that will come next week. I know exactly where He wants me to go so stay tuned. We will explore what to do and how to respond when you are urged to be a blessing when you really do not care to, or from a very human perspective, you really should not NEED to! I would venture to say, part two will be quite thought provoking to say the least.
I look forward to what this year is going to bring for us all, because through it all God has been faithful and we are truly blessed! I hope to see you this Saturday, January 9th at 11:00 A.M. (EST) for the Esther by Design class.