Count Your Blessings

Count Your Blessings

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God hath done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

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When I was a child, I loved to sing this hymn in the Baptist church we attended. I would rest my hand on the back of the pew, standing on tiptoe in order for my arm to stretch out straight like the grown ups near me. In my other hand I held the big hymn book and belted out the words to this glorious song. More recently, I have clapped and watched the projection screen while singing "Blessed Be Your Name in the land that is plentiful. Where the streams of abundance flow, blessed be Your name!" Blessings are a wonderful thing to sing about!

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What do you do when in real life the second verse begins and you are singing, "Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering. When there's pain in the offering, blessed be your name." At that point, blessings might not be such a wonderful thing to sing about. In your mind you are thinking, "What blessings? My basement is leaking, ice has backed up in my ceiling, a friend's daughter has taken her own life, two of my children are sick, my vacation was cancelled! How am I supposed to be counting those things as blessings?" A great man named Job struggled with those same questions. An entire book is devoted to this man and his conversations with his well meaning friends and an all powerful God.

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Job was broken over the loss of all he had in this world, except his wife and friends. Mrs. Job stuck around to encourage him to ditch God and his well meaning friends were making sure he felt as guilty as possible for things going awry. In spite of the tremendous suffering, Job was diligent to praise God for what had been given and what had been taken. Job understood that in the end, all that mattered was that he would see God.

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For I know that my Redeemer lives,

And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,

That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,

And my eyes shall behold, and not another.

How my heart yearns within me!

Job 19:25-27

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Our broken plans, lack of sleep, fragile health, loss of loved ones, financial trouble - all of those things are tools. They can be tools of war that the enemy uses to destroy our faith and witness, or tools of restoration that the Lord uses to draw us closer to Him and point others to Him. It is our choice who uses the tools. We choose by counting the blessings in ALL things or refusing to see the blessings in ALL things.

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We benefit from Job's choice of seeing the blessing of having nothing but God, but it is important to realize that he most likely never realized the incredible blessing his story would be to millions of people centuries later. Sometimes we might not see the purpose of some blessings, but God's Word promises that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. We must set our hearts towards our Redeemer, realizing that when all else fades away, He remains. He is the ultimate blessing.

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Prayer:

Lord God, please turn my heart towards You in all things. Please guide my thoughts towards praising You for all You have allowed in my life, regardless of how painful or inconvenient. You have my utmost good in Your plans. You allow nothing to touch me that You have not equipped me for. Thank you for your blessings.

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Challenge:

Capture your thoughts when difficult things arise. Direct them towards Romans 8, specifically verses 28-39. Look for and speak the blessings you see in all circumstances that come your way.

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Jen Gorton 2009