Recognizing Divine blessing

Matthew 6:25-34

            Have you ever stopped to think just how much of your life is spent worrying about things you cannot change?  We worry about the weather, paying our bills, feeding our families, getting older, possible sickness, etc.  Jesus’ admonition was not to worry about more than the moment.  He said that, not because these things aren’t likely to happen, but because God has made provision for any and every eventuality.  We are not told to depend upon luck but upon God’s providence!

            How can we enjoy God’s blessing?  I think the answer may be found in verse 30, “…Oh you of little faith.”  It requires faith to first recognize and then to take advantage of God’s provision.  Every living creature benefits from God’s blessing, many often without realizing or acknowledging it.  The Lord has placed us in an ordered world and given us all the skills necessary for success.  That’s why Darwin devised his Theory of Evolution.  What he saw as chance we understand to be God’s planning.  It is even possible to be successful without being happy or having joy.  True joy cannot be experienced apart from Jesus.

            What sets saints and sinners apart is the ability to see the world as it really is.  Some blessings are available to everyone while others are only available to believers!

I.                    How We Recognize Divine Blessings

A.    Not always what they seem

1.      Sickness, even poverty may be blessings

2.      Death is the greatest of all blessings

3.      Corrie ten Boom and her sister in the Nazi camp (fleas kept their Bible safe)

B.     Not always what we want

1.      Trust that God knows what we really need

2.      The missionary and his bicycle

C.    Perspective is everything

1.      Good things coming from God are blessings

2.      A home not used for God is a home unblessed

3.      A job not used for God will go unblessed

4.      Divine blessings never get used up.  God replaces what we use by at least a factor of 10.

II.                 When Blessings Come

A.    When attitude is right

B.     When we quit grabbing and allow God to give

C.    Never expected, just accepted!

Ever stop to think that the good-ole-days were good because our expectations were less?  We were more thankful than we are now.  Want your life to change?  Try changing your attitude!  Ever wonder if Christians aren’t any happier than lost people because we are too much alike?