On Sunday we began a new series entitled “The Blessed Life!” Preparing for the series has really caused me to pause and reflect upon all of the ways that God has blessed my life. Sometimes it is easy to focus on the things in our lives that have not gone well. There is something in us as human beings that tends to be more aware of the areas of struggle in our lives than the blessings. We are often quicker to notice the things that we don’t have than we are to acknowledge the things we do have.
There is no denying that many of us have been through difficulties in our lives. To begin with, we have all been impacted by this pandemic. Many have experienced significant loss in our lives. Others have battled various health concerns. With the continual rise in housing costs, food, health care and basically everything else, some are experiencing financial challenges. So it would be easy to focus on these things.
But here is what I have discovered. In the midst of it all, God is still faithful! I look at my own life and realize that despite having walked through loss, heath concerns and of course Covid, God’s blessings still far outweigh the struggles. Following my stroke, God has brought complete healing! After going through such a significant loss, God has blessed me with an amazing and wonderful person with whom I can continue this journey of life. And in spite of the setbacks of Covid, God is raising up new opportunities every day.
When I think about all of the ways that God has blessed my life, I cannot help but want to respond. We can never fully repay God for the innumerable ways that He has blessed us. But I do believe there are ways we can respond. First, we can respond to God’s blessings with our tithes and offerings. God has supplied my needs so abundantly that I can’t help but want to give back to the work of his Kingdom and to bless others in His name.
I believe we can also respond to God’s blessings in our lives by choosing to serve Him. He has given us life, health, strength and skills. I find it to be a great blessing to be able to use all of that to serve God and to do His work in this world. And then when I think about the blessing of Jesus and his sacrifice upon the cross for me, I can’t help but respond by wanting to share that good news with others.
I want to encourage us to take the time today to reflect on the many ways that God has blessed us. And I encourage us to respond to that blessing by giving generously to God’s work, serving God with our time and sharing the hope of the Gospel at every opportunity.
I love you all. I look forward to us being together this Sunday as we continue our series “The Blessed Life.”
Pastor Steve