Still waiting on God?

I taught recently about determining the blessings we have in our lives and more importantly, defining what a blessing was.  How our tendency is to look to God for help and supernatural answers to the difficulties we face on a daily basis, usually as a last resort.  So often what we see as blessings are only things that we can assign a value to or those that have a tangible benefit to us right now.   This view essentially relates God to a vending machine that we insert request into and expect a blessing to be dispensed.  And we’re shocked while stand there and nothing pops out maybe even contemplate kicking the machine for good measure.  And the idea of waiting on God, trusting in His timeframe just doesn’t seem possible.  We want to be blessed; we just want it right now.

And while we’re busy questioning why things aren’t happening the way we want, we don’t give Him the credit for the things we already have.  If we only take a step back and look closely, God’s fingerprints are on everything around us:

A comfortable place to call home, a job that covers the bills maybe a little money in the bank; how’d that happen?  Jehova-jireh, the Lord will provide.

When you spend time with good friends or an afternoon with your kids and hearing them say, “Thanks Dad, I love you”.   Jehovah-shammad, the Lord is present.

Quiet time in the morning, a comfortable chair and your Bible.  You find that passage or verse that guides you in the right direction. Jehovah-ra-ah, the Lord my shepherd.

God is so prevalent in our lives everyday and in so many ways.  He reveals Himself to us in even the smallest details but we aren’t looking there, we are too busy tapping our foot, arms crossed and impatiently waiting for the big blessing to pop out of the machine.

If God doesn’t seem to be doing anything in your life, maybe he’s waiting for you to realize what He‘s already done first.  If we can’t identify and thank God for the small, simple blessings he gives us on a daily basis why would He think we were ready for the big one?  I have a quote I wrote in my Bible and I think it makes a lot of sense.

Start to give thanks for the things you have and it won’t be long before you have what you want and want what you have.

Start looking at what God does for you everyday and when you find these little things, acknowledge Him and say thanks.  No telling what He may be waiting to do for you…

Peace

Jeff