Title: He Never Promised Us a Rose Garden/ Topic: Blessing

Today’s Reading: Genesis 25; Genesis 26; Psalm 6; Luke 10

Scripture: Genesis 26:12-15
12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.

Observation: God blessed Isaac tremendously and made him a wealthy man and the envy of those around him. But we see that God, in blessing Isaac, does not remove all problems from his life. Isaac still has to deal with the negative reactions of others toward him, vandalism, and the extra work created for him by this vandalism. Like the rose, blessings come with some thorns, but the beauty and fragrance of the flower is worth the inconvenience of the thorns.

Application: I used to think that if God was blessing me that I would not be experiencing any difficulties from anyone else. But absence of conflict doesn't seem to be what God promises when he promises to bless us. In fact, sometimes his blessing comes with problems that we didn't face before being “blessed” by the Lord. Almost always there are those who will find fault and be critical of us when they see we are blessed. But going to God with these trials and learning to respond to them in the power of his character actually grows and matures us in a way that could not happen if we never faced difficulty. I want to live under the blessing of God; and I will accept and be thankful for even the trials that come with that in order to live in the place of blessing. I know that God can and will use the trials I face to perfect my character.

Prayer: Father, I pray for your blessing to be poured out abundantly in my life. Bless me, Lord, as a testimony of your grace. Let every trial that comes as a result of that make me more like you.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.