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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

The Blessing of the Lord or the Bread of Sorrows?



Psalms 127:1,2 Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat– for He grants sleep to those He loves.

Hi friends,
Many times we want certain things in life and believe that if only we get that we will be fulfilled. We may even be ready to sacrifice many things in order to have that because we believe that once we achieve that we will be happy. We may have even prayed and believed to see that thing in our lives and have been disappointed as to why God never answered. We continue to prayerfully wait and in the mean time try out various things to make it happen for we know that it must be in accordance with God’s will. When finally we manage to get it, we realize that we have twisted God’s hand in to giving it to us with our efforts and prayers but though we received it, with it never came the anointing to carry out that task with ease or enjoy the blessing. We struggle and toil to make the thing work and in the process we slowly realize that the blessing was not exactly something that God intended for us at that particular time or season and that is why we sweat and toil but are ultimately unsatisfied and unhappy. This is called the bread of sorrows. Often we feel that our labor is in vain. There is a lack of holy ease and joy that always accompanies the blessing.

Last month I realized this over something that I wanted very badly. I presumed since it was a good thing,it must be in accordance with God’s will and leapt at the first opportunity without even bothering to ask the Lord what His will regarding it for me was. Very soon I struggled because of it rather than enjoying it when I realized that the Lord had sheltered me from it and had prevented me from getting it in the past because He loved me and knew very well in advance that I was not yet ready to enjoy the blessing.

This reminds me of the story of a little boy who cried for a knife to play with. The mother knew it was not the right toy for the boy as he would hurt himself playing with it but because of his continual pestering she finally gave it to the boy. The boy was overjoyed and started playing with it. It wasn’t very long before the boy cut his hand with it and came to the mother crying. The mother lovingly washed the wound and bandaged the little child’s hand and explained to him that this was exactly the reason she didn’t give the boy the knife in the first place.

Our heavenly Father knows what is best for us. Often the blessing we seek may be good but the time may not be right. He will bless us with it at the right time if we cease from our struggles and prayerfully and patiently wait for Him. Proverbs 10:22 “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”
Click to enjoy this song Unless the Lord builds http://youtu.be/qULtV42ft7s

Have a blessed week!
Take care, God bless!
Sparky Laurie