One of the advantages of getting older is recognizing the ways that God often uses “coincidences” to deliver a message!
Last week our family devotion was about a boy who said lots of prayers and often did not realize that the Lord had even answered those prayers. He certainly never thanked God for the blessings that God had given him in the process. In fact, when asked to list the way that God had blessed his life that week, the boy had trouble coming up with something to write down! I remembered thinking how impossible it was not to see God’s Hand in ones life and not to be grateful for His blessings! (How judgmental I can be at times! That is definitely something that God continues to refine about my life!!!!!)
Earlier that week, my husband, Gene, and I were bike riding downtown and could not follow all of the detour signs along the bike path. We recognized the path across the street, waited for the light to turn red, and proceeded to cross the street. It was as I reached the middle of the street that I realized that there was no ramp on the opposite side of the street and that a car was coming at a rapid rate right toward me. I tried to jump the curb by lifting my front tire. My body did indeed jump the curb, but my bike did not! The result was 5 stitches in my chin and a body that was definitely “black and blue.” I was miserable and whined often about my situation. (Just ask my poor family about it. They had to listen to it!)
The day after reading about the boy that failed to recognize God’s blessings I was out in public telling someone about my bicycle accident. A stranger overheard and commented, “You mean that you went flying over the handle bars of your bike, struck a cement sidewalk and all you got was 5 stitches and a bruised body?”
That’s when it struck me — I had failed to see my blessing! It could have been so much worse. I could have broken or dislocated several bones. I could have sprained numerous body parts. I could have even been killed! For someone whose father was killed when a car struck his bike, I certainly should have realized how fortunate I was in receiving only minor injuries. How was it possible that I didn’t recognize God’s divine providence and his blessing in the situation?
Then this past weekend, the Parish Choir sang the following song: “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”. Please indulge me as I share the lyrics:
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above! Praise His name! I’m fixed upon it name of God’s redeeming love. Hither to Thy love has blessed me, Thou hast brought me to this place; and I know Thy hand will bring me safely home by Thy good grace. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, bought me with His precious blood. O to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it prone to leave the God I love: Here’s my heart O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above. Finish then Thy new creation, purse and spotless let us be; Let us see Thy great salvation perfectly restored in Thee. Changed from glory into glory, till in Heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.
May you see the many blessings that God has showered upon you. In particular, may you bask in the joy that is ours due to the blessing of eternal life that is ours through Christ. Stand under the fountain of his blessings and enjoy the shower!
Krista Koch,
Math Teacher