BLESSINGS

“We just do not realize the majesty of our Lord and how he uses all of us for His divine purpose!”

 

What great truth to reflect on this week; a statement made in an email from a friend.  It came about from a few stories we were sharing where we see God’s perfect orchestrations in a simple, ordinary event.  Let me explain….

 

At my husband’s Holiday party which is always held at the beginning of January, we were talking with a couple that we have known through his work and our old church.  It was great to catch up with them.  In passing, we mentioned about our somewhat local Christian radio station’s Christmas dinner shows that have become an annual tradition in attending with another couple we know.  The location is about 1 1/2 hrs away.

I knew there was a dinner/concert at the radio station in February and the thought popped into my head, that instead of waiting all the way until December to have this holiday party couple experience going there, maybe we could get tickets for this February event though it was rather late to get tickets.  We ended up doing that.  About a week before the event, the couple realized they had a conflict and would not be able to attend.

Our task was to find someone who would enjoy a Christian music concert and a great dinner.  I prayed that God would give us the “right” couple that would benefit from experiencing this event.  We ended up thinking of two couples but both had other plans so were not available.  It was then that another couple from our Bible Study group, whom we’ve known for many years as we all attended the same church years back, came to mind.

Much to our delight this couple said sure though they had never heard of the Christian artist, Laura Story, before.  They were ready for a new adventure and were delighted to think we extended the invitation to them.

 

Photo courtesy of Chronic Joy® under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 2.0)

 

As always, the delicious dinner with a choice of Asiago crusted chicken or Prime Rib did not disappoint, nor the decadent desserts to pick from!  They do an amazing job of efficiently serving over 500 people in a short amount of time.

Laura Story is so down to earth sharing of herself and her families’ stories and how the different songs came about; something that is always a blessing for me to learn about.

Our friend was really struck when Laura shared that her husband, after two years of marriage, was diagnosed with a brain tumor which changed the trajectory of their lives forever.  Surgeons were able to remove the tumor but he suffers from acute memory loss and significant vision issues which impacts his life to this day, thirteen years later.

Laura and her family continue to pray for healing every day knowing that God may choose not to heal her husband despite the fact they know He could heal him.  Despite all the uncertainty in their lives, they continue to put their trust in the Lord, and to surrender to His will.  She stated emphatically that although she does not know if they will ever receive the physical healing for her husband that they continue to pray for, she knows that the Lord SUSTAINS them every day, through His Grace.  This sustenance is all they need.

Laura wrote a song entitled, Blessings, about four years after the original diagnosis.  It was written as a reminder to her that even if God does not heal her husband, it doesn’t mean God is not hearing their prayers.  God will sometimes allow things that we might not understand but they still carry a potential for spiritual growth as we choose to trust and surrender daily to God.  Blessings is about finding the answer even in the absence of the thing you are praying for.

 

Photo courtesy of Yay God Ministries under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 2.0)

 

 

 

Take a few minutes to listen to the song and/or read the lyrics below.

“Blessings”  by Laura Story

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause 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

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

‘Cause 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

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not
This is not our home

It’s not our home

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life-
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/laurastory/blessings.html

Copyright © 2000-2020 AZLyrics.com

 

 

What is a definition of the word sustain?

According to a google search,

Sustain means to “strengthen or support physically or mentally.”

Think about how God sustains you each and every day with that definition in mind.  How perfect and what a great truth!

 

 

What are some Bible verses that talk about the power of God sustaining us in this life which offer us encouragement even through the dark, rough times?

 

Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.  –Psalm 55:22  (NIV)

Yes, we are encouraged to let the Lord know what we are feeling, the cares that are weighing us down!  We have assurance that God is hearing us as we share our hearts and that no matter what, He is the one sustaining us; providing strength for us as we battle through even if our prayers are not answered in the way we are hoping for.  We need to remain steadfast in our faith.

 

 

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.  –Isaiah 46:4  (NIV)

What great comfort God gives us that from infancy to adulthood~~Even when we are old and feeble, God is there to sustain us.  Yes, God made us in His image, therefore He will take care of us and rescue us no matter what we are going through! What a mighty God we serve!

 

You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.  –Psalm 18:35  (NIV)

When we are in the battle in our lives, God provides us with His shield of victory; His right hand sustains us through the battles; He comes down to help make us great!

 

The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.  –Psalm 146:9  (NIV)

God watches over, strengthening and supporting the broken-hearted in this world yet he frustrates the wicked. 

 

The Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.  –Psalm 147:6  (NIV)

We hear how the Lord strengthens those that are humble, those that know they need the Lord, but those that are wicked will not enter His Kingdom.

 

The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.  –Isaiah 50:4  (NIV)

If we take time to listen to God, He will give us a tongue to proclaim Him and to know the Word that strengthens the weary.  His Words speak truth into our lives and give us encouragement.

 

He reflects the brightness of God’s glory and is the exact likeness of God’s own being, sustaining the universe with his powerful word. After achieving forgiveness for the sins of all human beings, He sat down in heaven at the right side of God, the Supreme Power.  –Hebrews 1:3  (GNT)

Jesus reflects God’s glory, and in fact is the exact likeness of God, His Father.  Jesus strengthens the universe by His every word; it speaks Life to us and encourages our daily walk. Jesus provided the greatest act for the world by dying on the cross so we can all have salvation through Him.

 

I recently heard a sermon that made me think of this parallel in our lives:  Just as when we were in our mother’s womb, the umbilical cord was our lifeline providing nourishment and sustaining us, Jesus is our lifeline while we are on this earth providing nourishment with the Word and the Holy Spirit to sustain us!

 

 

Photo courtesy of Chronic Joy® under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 2.0)

 

My friend that was so touched by the testimony of Laura with her Blessings song has felt compelled to share Laura’s message with people in our Bible Study, and another church program to help encourage their spiritual journey.

What was truly another God moment was after our friend arrived home from the church program, there was an email from a friend that was sent to about 30 people that had a link to a song….Can you guess what song it was?  Yes, indeed, none other than Blessings by Laura Story!  This gentleman ran across it somehow, with God’s perfect timing!  My friend was able to share that she had seen Laura Story in concert and the “why” of the song.  How powerful!

 

Isn’t it amazing to see how, in this sharing, the majesty of the Lord is evident and  how everything is used for His divine purposes?

 

*Providing Holiday party talking with couple

*Provided thought of Feb. dinner/concert

*Providing the “right” couple to invite

*Providing the “right” artist sharing part of her story to inspire others

*Providing the email that a person shared the Blessing song

*Providing more people my friend could evangelize and share with

 

Did a way that you have seen the majesty of the Lord and how he used you for His divine purpose come to mind as you were reading these thoughts?  Feel free to leave a comment in the section below!

 

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.  –Psalm 27:13  (NIV)