The Blessedness of
Blessing
Scripture: The LORD answer you in the day of trouble! The
name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary,
and give you support from Zion. May he remember all your offerings, and regard
with favor your burnt sacrifices. Selah. May he grant you your heart's desire,
and fulfill all your plans.--Psalm 20:1-4
The most profound experience
of grace that we can receive from another is the impartation of a
blessing. Counter to the magical
acquisition of possessions, the biblical expression of blessing is different
from “luck,” or “fate”. It is the approval of God over
our lives. It recognizes the total sufficiency of God and God’s absolute
generosity towards us. It is the Word incarnate for us; that Word says, “You
have enough , You do enough, You are enough!”
In the final scene of Kathryn
Stockett’s bestseller, The Help, the
plain, under valued toddler, May Mobley, repeats the mantra taught to her by her
Shero-nanny, Abileene: “You is kind, you
is smart, you is important!” What words of blessing, of validation, of
affirmation, approval and love from one person to another! In a world where she clearly did not meet her
mother’s standards, the three year-old, May, heard her “real mother” (her words) say
that she did matter, that she was enough – just as she was.
We live in a culture that
constantly bombards us with messages to do more, expect more, get more, even as
they tell us that we are insufficient – that we will never be thin enough,
young enough or prosperous enough to matter. The grace note; however, coming
through that den of noise, is that we receive
blessing and approval from the God of the Universe, who assures us that
God’s grace is sufficient, and through the gifting of that grace to us, we are blessed, we are affirmed, we are enough!
Prayer: Sovereign
Lord, let your blessing, approval, grace
and love so surround us that we are not moved by the fury of the day nor the
race to grab. Make us know that in you,
we have, do and are enough. In Jesus’
Name, AMEN.
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