Divine Blessings

"Ordinary" Blessings

Written by Dr. Bill Bagents

I can’t remember where I read the quote. I’m not sure that I remember the exact words, but I love the message. “God is always speaking. How often do we listen? God is always teaching. How often do we learn?” There’s so much to learn from the ordinary events of life.

The cell phone rang so I answered. No one was there. After the third hello, I was preparing to be ill. Finally, Laura responded. She hadn’t called me—her back pocket had. We enjoyed a pleasant four-minute conversation. What I almost found to be a bother was really a blessing. That happens more often than we might think.

A friend whom I’ve never met in person calls from California. Our conversations are stunningly diverse. Recently he began with questions about faith and how we help faith grow. I offered suggestions from Luke 17:5 (pray, ask God to help), Romans 10:17 (listen to the word), and Hebrews 5:14 with Luke 17:5-10 (use what you have, do what you know to do). I suggested that God is for us and will help us. Then my friend responded, “That’s grace, and grace is too good to be true.” He wasn’t expressing doubt. Rather, he was emphasizing the stunningly amazing nature of grace.

Wondrous grace. Marvelous grace. Matchless grace. Too good to be true, but God has made it true through Jesus Christ. And we won’t grasp the full power of grace until we see our Lord in all His holiness and majesty (Titus 2:11-14, Ephesians 2:1-10, Revelation 1:12-18). We need to think of that often. Such thoughts will always bless. They’ll pull us toward heaven. They’ll cause us to hate sin. They’ll pull us toward God.

I picked up Laura for lunch. At the restaurant we saw one of the sweetest, most pleasant ladies we know. Every time we see her, we’re reminded of how much she has blessed our family. Seeing her made the meal better. Seeing her made the day better. I hope we had something of the same effect on her. God means for us to be and to bring blessings to others. It’s one of the ways that we are made in His image. It’s one of the ways that we preach the gospel (Matthew 5:13-16, 1 Peter 2:11-12 and 3:1-3). It’s one of the ways that we “stir up love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24).