Overtaken

And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 28:2

There is no doubt in my mind that my life is overtaken by blessing. It may not be anyone else’s vision of a perfect life, but looking back over six decades I am humbled by the blessings God daily gives to me. And the fact that blessings also are right with me in difficulties is the greatest blessing I can know. Life is hard. God is so very good. Life is a blessing when those two things are what I know! Bear with this paradoxical language for a moment…

Blessing has overtaken me in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The blessing overflows into all my other experiences. The fact that Jesus died for me, bore my sin, guilt, and sorrow on the cross so that I could know abundant and eternal life through Christ’s forgiveness is my defining center. So much good grace overflows from that truth. It is like a crystal spring of blessing flowing up from the center of my soul. The gospel overtakes everything!

Here is what the blessing of the gospel overtakes:

• My own struggles with sin. I can find grace as I confess, forsake, and obey what Jesus shows me and what the Spirit leads me by the Word of God’s instruction.
• My own sorrows and grief. I’ve had my share, but I do not live in grief and sorrow. Because of God’s blessing I can live beyond loss. And grief still visits me everyday in some way or another, but the loved ones I have been separated from who are with Christ are not lost to me! They are just ahead of me! I remember God’s blessing and know that I will see them all again as surely as their memories are still with me.
• My own challenges and hardships. I live in a broken world. And there are hard things I face personally, and in pastoral ministry. Despite the reality that relationships, following the Lord Jesus, and making a living are all hard work, I am extraordinarily blessed! And that blessing compels me to want to generously pour out God’s grace in me to others in ministry, fellowship, friendship, love, relationships, good neighboring, gospel proclamation, and showing the kindness of Christ.

Thank You Lord for the real experience of the promise of Your blessing overtaking me! I am indeed carried by the current of Your grace! Amen