God's Blessings

Even though God owes us nothing, He still pours out blessings on those who follow Him. You might be thinking right now, "My life is falling apart, nothing is going right. Where is God's blessing in this?"

Let's look again at the life of Joseph in Genesis. He begins life as his father's favorite son, and his brothers most hated sibling. They plot to kill him, but then settle for throwing him in a pit and then selling him as a slave. He gets to Egypt, and ends up being a slave in the house of Potiphar, the captain of the Guard. God was with Joseph and he did well.

Then Potiphar's wife tries to seduce Joseph into an affair. He continuously refuses, and when she grabs him, he runs of, leaving his robe in her hands. She accuses him of trying to rape her, and he is unjustly thrown into prison on false charges. God was with Joseph, and even in prison he prospered. He was put in charge of the prisoners.

Two servants of Pharaoh are put in jail and they have a dream. God gives Joseph the meaning of the dreams, and to the one who will be restored to his position Joseph simply asks that he remembers him because he is innocent. Two years pass and when Pharaoh has a dream that no one can interpret Joseph is remembered. God gives Joseph the meaning of the dream and he is placed second in command of Egypt.

The key phrase in all of the hardships is that God was with Joseph. In all things Joseph remained faithful to God. He stood firm and did what he knew was right. For the most part, Joseph did nothing to deserve the bad things that happened to him. Even the jealousy and hatred of his brothers began with the favoritism of their father for Joseph. Joseph didn't deserve the bad things, he had done nothing to bring them about, but they happened. And yet he stayed faithful to God.

God blesses Joseph with two sons. Their names mean, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household" and "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." Hardships and trials may last a long time, remember Joseph was forgotten in prison for two years. But in God's perfect time Joseph is released and promoted. God blesses him to the point that he forgets about the hardships. God's blessings are that great.

God loves to bless us, remember what Jesus said? "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luke 11.13) But the thing to remember is that God owes us nothing. We aren't supposed to expect and demand the blessings of God as if we deserve them. We aren't supposed to look at the hardships of life as God's disfavor on us. Job 2.10b says, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" Job 13.15a says, "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him."

God owes us nothing in life, but He pours out His love and blessings. God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. While we were sinners, enemies of God, He sent His Son to die and rescue us. Those who follow Him have the promise of Heaven, eternal life after death, when all things will be restored, when all things will be as God intended for them to be. In Heaven we will be blessed with the presence of God, and there forget all of our hardships.

But life is not meant to be lived for Heaven. We have been given the greatest blessing here and now of being able to give glory to God. We have been given breath to praise Him, and life to worship Him with. Through the blood of Jesus we are able to enter into a restored relationship with God and live life with meaning. God created us for life, He sent His Son to restore life to us when it was lost. He empowers us to glorify Him.

God has blessed us with the chance to glorify Him. Let us do that, no matter what we are going through in life. Let us remember that God doesn't exist to make us happy but that we exist to give Him glory. And if we remain faithful to Him, He will be with us through everything we face, and in the end will bless us so much that we forget all of our hardships.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you