Blessed to be a Blessing

Travis and I have been thinking and recounting a lot lately. Recounting the many amazing events and things that transpired to bring us where we are today. Serving together in a rural community, married just over 3 weeks. We can still hardly believe we are together, having met through a series of unlikely circumstances. God certainly knows how to handpick people who are perfect for one another, as we discover each day we spend in each other's company and fall more and more in love. We are so blessed.

Yesterday as I was reading Psalm 67 for my devotional time, I came across this familiar verse, the first in the chapter: "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us...Selah." Ah, yes, I thought, God has been so gracious and has certainly blessed us...but then as I read on, I realized the Psalmist's pause, that Selah which acts as a reflective deep breath, did not necessarily act as a moment to reflect on the ways we have benefited from God's incredible blessing. No, from the following verses, it would seem that in the pause the Psalmist asked "why?" Why do we ask for blessing from God? What purpose does blessing really serve, that we should request it? Read on, in verse 2: "...that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations." It would seem there is an even greater purpose to blessing than merely our own benefit- which is great! Our focus in asking for blessing, whether for ourselves or others needs a shift...blessing is intended to reflect glory back to God, to make Him known and make His name great in all the earth! That when we recount what He has done for us, we showcase His power, His ways. The ways in which He works are specially designed to show off His amazing power and His graciousness.

May we remember, when we reflect and recount on the ways we have been blessed, to draw out of our experiences the ways we can turn it to His glory. May all peoples see that God, our God, is great and gracious and powerful and that He works in mysterious ways. Blessing is a tool that He has given us to turn our praises and the praises of the earth back to Himself.