Words from Wednesday (Devotional)

Blessed Be Your Name

We sang the song, Blessed Be Your Name, in church this past week. While I was singing it, I realized there are so many blessings we have in life: It was a hot, sunny day. It’s summer, my favourite season. I have a house, clothes, good food to eat, a wonderful family, great friends—all in all, I was feeling pretty blessed.

But my mind also drifted (as it does in church at times—oops!) to the many things that I was annoyed at or upset at or that are just a plain injustice in life today. Quite the contrast from my opening sediments!

And that brought me to wonder if I can really say, “Blessed be Your name” with integrity. Like I said, it’s easy to see God blessing me in the good times. When my husband and I got married, we were reminded of this verse from James 1:17: “Every good and perfect gift is from heaven above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights. . .” On our son’s birth announcement we used the verse, “Children are a gift from God. . .” (Psalm 127:3). And at the basis of my faith is Romans 6: 23b says, “. . .but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I am surrounded by gifts from God and can’t help but echo the psalmist’s words, “My mouth is filled with your praise. . . I will praise you more and more.” (Psalm 71:8, 14)

But what about those not so good times? I know it is then that I am in desperate need to remind myself of God’s goodness to me. I need to surround myself with scripture, songs, and encouragement that tell me how God is in control—and that that in itself deserves praise. Even though things don’t seem so good now, or even if things don’t seem so good to me, God is still a good God, worthy of all praise and glory.

And what about those times that I just feel all these “gifts” are owed to me? Yep, I admit it. Sometimes I look at the lack of fairness (in my humble opinion, of course!) in my life—my home, my workplace, my church, my social circles, my community, my everything—and think about how I really deserve more; I deserve better; I deserve something!!! And sometimes I even question God. How could you do this to me? How could you allow this to happen? How can you just let so-and-so get away with that? How can you stand to watch such-and-such unfold?

And that is when a song like this can cause me to be “sweetly broken.” Because yes, I can bless God for all the gifts that I recognize—for the plentiful land, the abundance, when life is just as it should be. I can take every blessing he pours out and turn it back into a praise to Him.

I am learning how to boldly say that, yes, I can praise God when I’m in a dessert place or when the darkness is closing in on me. Even when there is a pathway of suffering, to say these words, “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name” (Psalm 103:1). Yes—ALL my inmost being must praise His holy name, even during these times.

And I’m learning to understand that I deserve nothing. On my own, I deserve absolutely nothing. But I was graciously given everything as a gift. I was given eternal life with my Lord and Saviour. As a gift. And that is how I must treat it—as a gift. And I must treat ALL of life as a gift. When tings are good or bad, just or unjust, positive or negative, in all circumstances, God game me an incredible gift. I don’t understand it all, but I can still confidently say, “Blessed by Your name” because He gave me this life—my eternal life—as a gift. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)

More passages to read: Psalm 103, Psalm 104, 2 Corinthians 9 and Hebrews 11:39-40

Blessed Be Your Name lyrics

Blessed be Your name

in the land that is plentiful

Where your streams of abundance flow

blessed be Your name

and blessed be Your name

when I'm found in the desert place

though I walk through the wilderness

blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise

and when the darkness closes in Lord still I will say:

blessed be the name of the Lord

blessed be Your name

blessed be the name of the Lord

blessed be Your glorious name

and blessed be your name

when the sun's shining down on me

when the world's "all as it should be"

blessed be your name

and blessed be your name

on the road marked with suffering

though there's pain in the offering

blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise

when the darkness closes in Lord still I will say:

blessed be the name of the Lord

blessed be your name

blessed be the name of the Lord

blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will chose to say:

Blessed be Your name (blessed be Your name Lord)

Words from Wednesday (Devotional)

(oops-kinda late. We've been hit with a wonderful flu bug, so . . . bed is looking more exciting for the family that ANY type of activity!)

Be-ing

A few months ago I found the book, The Life You Always Wanted by John Ortberg (2002), sitting on a shelf at my sister’s house. I took it home with me with good intentions of reading it right away. That never happened. So many other things—pressing things of the day—got in the way. Free time was non-existent. Free time . . . what is that anyway?

But I finally did pick it up again now that I’m officially on summer vacation. Guess how far I got? The first few pages. And then I had to think a little. Well, I had to think a lot.

You see, Mr. Ortberg seemed to be eloquently writing the very thoughts I was thinking as I opened its pages. He started talking about the disappointments he has in himself and his life and his world. Although I don’t echo all of his disappointments, I have a grand list of my own. On page 13 (which is only 3 pages into the book, or rather, the end of his very first introductory section) he asks where all this disappointment come from. They could be equated to self-esteem and self-worth. But he pinpoints it to this one phrase: “The older and wiser answer is that the feeling of disappointment is not the problem, but a reflection of a deeper problem—my failure to be the person God had in mind when he created me . . . to be at home with the Father.”

I have this little problem at times. Sometimes I can agonize over things. Sometimes these things are pretty small. Sometimes they are big. I find myself constantly asking “What is the right thing to do in this situation?” because I am well aware of my own ability to mess things up, to treat others badly, to act selfishly, to bring glory to myself, to sin repeatedly. I am well aware of my ability to deface Christ because I call myself a Christian. I hear those words of that song, How Deep the Father’s Love For Us, go through my mind, “Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon his shoulders, ashamed I hear my mocking voice, call out among the scoffers.” Yep, in my thoughts, my words, and my actions, I am doing the very things I never wished to do. I feel like Peter right before the rooster made his three calls. I feel like Paul, agitated to be doing the things he doesn’t want to do and not doing the things he desires to do. I’m not doing the right thing in the situation at hand. And that is when I suddenly realize that, yet again, I am not being who God intended for me to be.

As I struggle through my lack of communion with my Creator, I am also reminded of the words from the song, You are My King/Amazing Love, that say, “I’m forgiven, because you were forsaken. I’m accepted, you were condemned. I’m alive and well, your Spirit lives within me because you died and rose again.”

Oh, I am thankful for God’s love and salvation. I am thankful for His forgiveness and grace. And I am thankful that, even though I am not the person God had in mind when he created me, He promises to bring me home to Him where I won’t mess it all up, but I’ll worship Him in word and deed. Where I won’t treat others in a way that disrespects them, but praise God for his diversity and splendor in creation. Where I won’t do things out of envy and selfish gain, but place Him and others above my own wants and desires. Where I won’t seek glory for myself but bring glory to His name alone.

Until Christ brings me home, I am going to make some choices each day—each minute and second—about who I am and who God made me to be. And I will mess up, I will have to face my many disappointments, I will have to admit that the things I have done do not reflect the Christian name I give myself, but I am going to make living as God’s intended creation my goal and keep asking, “What is the right thing to do in this situation?” in order to try to be who I was created to be.