“Blessings”

One of my new favorite songs is “Blessings” by Laura Story. The second verse says,

“We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And 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
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe.”

Isn’t that how it goes? We pray for things, and when they aren’t answered the way we think they should, we get angry with God. We forget that He has fulfilled all of His promises to us. He has defeated our greatest enemy for us. He has mercifully allowed us to die with Him, and He has graciously given us His righteousness. He has adopted us as His children. And His promise that we will be glorified is given in the past-tense (Romans 8:30).

But He never promised a smooth ride down here. He never promised good jobs. He never promised that we would not have to bury our children. He never promised that we would all get along.

When I take my eyes off of Jesus, off of the Cross, I tend to forget the actual promises, and instead pretend that He has promised me something that He didn’t promise. But what greater blessing, what greater gift could He give us besides our salvation? We also need to remember that He wants us to be conformed to the image of His Son. That won’t happen if He just gives us whatever we want. So sometimes He says “no”, and sometimes He brings things into our lives that cause pain and heartache. But we know He is good, and it’s all ultimately for His glory.

I would love to pray with Job, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21) But too often I don’t.

So we need to keep seeking His face. We need to pray with the psalmist, “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continuously.” (Psalm 105:4). It’s His strength we need. And we need to remember His promises. And remember that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

May you seek His face as you worship Him today.

For His Glory,
Chris