Blessings

So, I’m feeling reflective for this week’s column. It seems that we are all blessed in different ways. Maybe we feel that we are even blessed more or less at certain times. Some are blessed with health, a home and prosperity. Others are blessed with friends, faith and a family who loves them. Many are blessed with all of these.

I have most often associated the word “blessings” with something positive. “Love and Blessings” as we sign cards and letters, “God Bless America” as we sing with pride for the land that we love and “Bless this food, Lord” as we pray at mealtimes. But, I heard a song the other day that opened my eyes to a broader definition of “blessings.” I’m certain that I was meant to hear this song because as I got into the car three different times that day, this song was playing. So, I listened carefully to Laura Story’s words in her song, “Blessings.”

“What if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near? What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?”

I researched this song a little more and found that Laura had written it during a time when she was journeying with her husband on his road of recovery after a brain tumor. She said in an interview, “We have a choice. Are we going to judge God based on our circumstances that we don’t understand or are we going to judge our circumstances based on what we know to be true about God?”

I was moved by many of her words, both in her interviews and in her song. She said, “Maybe God gives us what we need instead of what we want? Could God be blessing us by not giving us what we’ve been praying for? There is a blessedness that comes through waiting with the Lord and an intimacy that comes through walking in the valleys with Him. If something causes us to cling to that old rugged cross all the more,” then Laura considers herself a blessed person.

Since we are approaching Good Friday and remembering that Jesus died for all of us, let’s also take the time to reflect on something important. When everything else fades away, three things still stand - the Cross, our Faith and His Word.

At certain times in our lives, there seems to be more questions than answers. But, we can also remember that when we are down to nothing…God is up to something. I recently read in an e-mail - “I know in this life, there will be pain. But, if that’s what it takes to bring You glory, Lord, bring on the rain.”

May we take a moment to think about what Easter really means. May we embrace our loved ones, take time for prayer and thank the Lord for “blessings” – however they rain down. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ