“The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow to it,” Proverbs 10:22 (ESV).
At the beginning of the year 2020, my husband, who is the pastor of our local church, felt a strong word from the Lord that our church family was going to receive unique blessings this year.
He shared this with the congregation a few times. We listened and took note, but then COVID-19 hit the world and we put thoughts of blessings far away.
A few months later, a couple in our church announced they were having a baby and everyone started talking about blessings again!
Why did this stir things back up, you ask? Isn’t pregnancy a natural occurrence?
Well, not for this couple of whom I speak!
They were told by a doctor four years ago they would never be able to have a baby.
During COVID-19, Many of us grumbled and complained about our job layoffs and isolation, but the Lord turned that time of isolation into a miracle of blessing for this couple!
This miracle has been wonderful to behold. What an awesome testimony of the Lord’s goodness!
We can certainly say, this couple has experienced the blessing of the Lord this year!
Suddenly, blessings and miracles became very real to us as a congregation!
Especially after this couple’s latest ultrasound where you can obviously see the fetus’s head, body, and hands – this baby is for real! It is not a figment of our imagination - a miracle has surely happened!
Boy, the Lord proved those doctors wrong! Amen!
On top of this blessing, we have witnessed the Lord move in our services mightily.
There has been an increase in members and visitors. An increase in prophecies and testimonies and the Lord is lifting us higher in praise and worship.
We are becoming rich in the blessings of the Lord!
The other day, I began daydreaming of what blessings the Lord might bestow upon me, or my family!
I have all sorts of ideas, both big and small :-)
While at work the other day, something happened, and the Lord caused me to see an error within my work before it became a nightmare, and it spared me great difficulty.
Afterwards, I took a moment and thanked the Lord for helping me.
Then, I stopped in my tracks - realizing right then and there, I had just experienced a blessing of the Lord and almost overlooked it!
Why? Because it was a normal occurrence and I had grown accustomed to the Lord's help!
Immediately, I became aware of all sorts of blessings from the Lord that go unnoticed in my life every day. Such as, protection from harm or injury, a healthy body, a healthy family, a home filled with whatever I need. My job, financial provision, a husband who loves me, my faithful devoted dachshunds… the list goes on and on.
On top of that, let us not forget the wisdom from heaven the Lord gives to all those who seek Him: He answers prayers, offers direction and guidance in the affairs of life, and shows mercy and grace in time of need.
In my haste and excitement to receive a BIG blessing, like winning a car or a million dollars or something huge like that, I was overlooking all the little blessings and miracles that happen every day.
So, why is it that we humans measure blessings with material things? With tangible objects that our eyes can see and our hands can hold? Why are we like this?!
Isn’t it enough that the Lord bestows upon us blessings of mercy and grace? Because surely, we would not be forgiven our sins if He was not a merciful and loving God.
Then why do we always seek for more? And more, and more?
Maybe BIG blessings happen when we are completely content, and completely satisfied with His everyday goodness? Maybe this is when the unexpected tangible miracles of blessings REALLY happen… hmmm, it makes one wonder.
Yesterday, I received a newsletter from a missionary friend in southern Germany. They have faced many hardships over the last year-and-a-half with obtaining green cards and getting settled in the country.
Their newsletter was full of praise reports over answered prayers. They were rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord and it was encouraging to read.
One comment made me chuckle though, my missionary friend wrote: “We finally found an apartment to rent after looking for a year and are thankful for this answered prayer. The apartment is a little small, but it has everything we need.”
Did you catch the hidden truth in that text? I will explain.
First, I chuckled at her statement: “The apartment is a little small…”
Ha-ha, this must mean they were daydreaming about a bigger apartment? At least that is what I surmised...
Maybe they were hoping for extra room to spread out? Maybe a little room to set up their projects? Or extra space to lounge?
Who knows, but this was implied within her statement: “The apartment is a little small…”
I can SO relate with wanting and hoping for bigger living space!
When our family moved from Michigan to New York in 2017, we searched far and wide for a big house to purchase.
After living in a small, unfinished house for years, we ASSUMED the Lord was going to bless us with a huge beautiful house now that we were moving to do HIS work – and especially since my husband was stepping into the role of being a pastor.
Surely the Lord was going to bless us with a huge home where I could fulfill all my dreams of decorating and each one of us could have a special room all to ourselves.
Could this have been what this missionary was thinking as well?
Perhaps… but, she added this interesting phrase after admitting the apartment was below her expectations…
“but it has everything we need.”
And this is the hidden truth!
The Lord gives us everything we need. Not too much or we might become proud, and not too little, or we might grow in despair.
But only what we need.
Isn’t this how the Lord works and moves in our lives? He gives us our daily bread – just enough for that day, so we do not grow boastful and waste His precious blessings.
He wants us to be content with His daily provisions.
Then, guess what? He wants us to get up the next day and ask Him to provide our daily provisions for that day as well – all over again.
He wants us to keep asking and asking and asking every day.
If He gives us everything we desire in one day, perhaps we would stop asking Him or even stop seeking Him.
THIS is His blessing!
He blesses us just enough, so we learn to trust Him.
Then we learn to go to Him in all things, and for all matters, because we know He will meet all our needs – everyday.
He is careful not to give too much, but just enough to help us see things through, so we will always look to Him.
THIS is our blessing!
Then we do not rely upon our own selves, but on His daily goodness.
After two years of looking for a home to purchase in New York, our family finally found a house.
It was not what we were expecting at all.
To our disappointment, the house was much smaller in scale compared to our dreams and desires…
But, one thing it did have: everything we needed.
I am extremely happy for my little home in the city and have found much peace and rest within its walls.
If you have read my blog titled, My Thankful Project, you will understand just how happy I am with my home.
Whenever I walk inside, I am reminded of the Lord’s blessings towards our family.
For, you see, this house was a miracle. In the sense, we were the first people to walk through the house on the very first day it was listed.
We ended up putting an offer on it right then and there, and our offer was accepted that evening.
Then we rejoiced in the goodness of the Lord!
After two years of hunting and looking for the right house, we did not even realize our home was not even on the market yet! But the Lord was preparing it!
Two years ago, we would have passed right over this house if it had been on the market because it was TOO small, but the Lord took us through tough times to bring our expectations low. He waited until our hearts were perfectly softened and we would be open to see its possibilities.
The previous owner of our home was retired and had meticulously gone over every inch of the house making sure it was perfect before putting it on the market.
So, we walked into a very well cared for home, and I felt the presence of the Lord immediately upon walking through the front door.
As I stepped into the home, I heard the Lord whisper, “This home will be a sanctuary unto me.”
I knew immediately, our search was over. Yes, the house was much smaller than what we had been dreaming about, but it fit ALL our needs.
The Lord wants to give, and He wants to bless us, but He does not want our desires to destroy us.
That is why these verses in Proverbs 3:5-8 means so much to me: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”
Speaking of the Lord directing our paths, He certainly has taken me down some twists and turns this past month, bringing me into unexpected tangible blessings!
At the beginning of August, the Lord started to impress upon my heart the desire to be in full time ministry. I felt strongly about this and thought maybe he was going to move me out of my current job and into a job that was more ministry-minded.
Then, two weeks later, along came a teaching opportunity at a local private Christian school.
I have always wanted to be a teacher, but never had the opportunity to pursue a formal education.
This school needed a kindergarten teacher ASAP.
School was starting in a week and they had not found anyone to teach these poor kids in kindergarten!
After hearing their need, I considered applying for the position based upon the 20 years of experience I have had teaching kids in home school and Sunday School classes, but I was still unsure about the whole thing.
Was this for me? Was this the full time ministry job the Lord was speaking to me about? What about my current job? How could all of this work out?
My sole confidence was what the Lord quickened to me as I held this opportunity before Him in prayer.
I happened to be reading my Bible, in the book of Matthew where the Lord was speaking about the blessed ones of the Father, whose kingdom has been prepared for them from the beginning of the world. They are those that have ministered unto the sick, the lame, the hungry, and those in prison.
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me," Matthew 25:40 (KJV).
My faith jumped into action, and I knew immediately the Lord was speaking to me regarding this teaching position. I din't know how He was going to work everything out, but I knew I had to apply.
He quickened me with this verse: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Right then it was clear to me the Lord saw this job of teaching these little ones (the least of these) as ministering unto the Lord Himself. What an honor!
Could this be the full time ministry job the Lord was preparing my heart for at the beginning of August?
After submitting my application, I received a call from the administrator right away.
I landed an interview, and he offered me the job within fifteen minutes.
What a miracle! I do not even hold a teaching degree, but they felt I was the perfect fit!
My current employer is willing to work with my new teaching schedule, so I am juggling both jobs presently. Which is another miracle!
This obviously was the handiwork of the Lord because I could not have manufactured any of this!
The Lord knows the desires of our hearts and knows what we are capable of handling.
I firmly believe all of this is part of the blessing my husband spoke over our church at the beginning of the year.
Not only was I blessed with this teaching ministry to the little ones in kindergarten, but my daughter was hired as the 1st and 2nd grade teacher at the same school, and her classroom is right next to mine!
Isn’t God good?!
We have had such a wonderful time together this past week, preparing our classrooms in anticipation of the first day of school, which was today - August 31st! (See pictures below.)
The blessing of the Lord makes rich!
He also adds blessing upon blessing in His perfect time!
Our church is growing in spiritual blessings and physical blessings this year – PRAISE THE LORD - and our members are multiplying as well!
We not only will welcome the miracle baby spoken of before, but we will also welcome our first grandchild in April 2021!
By God’s grace, two little souls will be added to our church family in 2021. My heart is bursting!
Oh, the blessing of the Lord does make one rich and he adds no sorrow to it! Rich in goodness, love, and blessings!!!
Let us continue to serve the Lord together!
Let us be ever ready to thank Him daily for His provisions!
Those provisions that are just enough, and just what we need.
AND praise Him for our safe keeping!
AND thank Him for our health that we so often take for granted!
Let us be content and happy with those everyday blessings, trusting the Lord with ALL the desires of our heart.
Let us not lean on our own understanding, but acknowledge Him in EVERYTHING, and He will direct our paths!
Then let us wait and see how the Lord might bless us with unexpected tangible blessings!
Praise the Lord!
Hey - and the year isn't over yet! We need to keep our expectancy up!
Our church may grow even richer in the blessings of the Lord!
Amen!
**Don't forget - there are pictures - scroll down!
First day of cleaning and prepping the classroom.
