The following was taken from Nancy Gutherie’s 416 p. landmark devotional masterpiece titled “The One Year Book of Hope.” 2005 Tyndale Momentum, p. 330. 26 copies available yesterday at ThriftBooks @$5.29 ea. for future Christmas, birthday or “just thinking of you” gifts? Enjoy.
The LORD TOLD ABRAM, “LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY, YOUR RELATIVES, AND YOUR FATHER’S HOUSE, AND GO TO THE LAND THAT I WILL SHOW YOU. I WILL CAUSE YOU TO BECOME THE FATHER OF A GREAT NATION. I WILL BLESS YOU AND MAKE YOU FAMOUS, AND I WILL MAKE YOU A BLESSING TO OTHERS. I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU AND CURSE THOSE WHO CURSE YOU. ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH WILL BE BLESSED THROUGH YOU.” Genesis 12:1-3
In our chaotic driven culture we’ve been conditioned to be skeptical because we’ve encountered so many hurtful hidden agendas that repeatedly destroy our trust, we can’t help but wonder if God has a hidden agenda too, especially when He doesn’t do what we expect Him to do. But remember, God declared up front His agenda for us and this world. Nothing is hidden. His agenda is simply this: He plans to bless us. He wants to unleash His life-enriching goodness and mercy upon empty, dying, disillusioned people. He wants to flood our world with redeeming grace. BOTTOM LINE: Our problem with God’s agenda is not that it is hidden, but that it simply seems too good to be true!
We certainly don’t deserve and can’t earn God’s blessing; it is a gift. In fact, when God chose to bless Abraham, he was no saint-in-training but was likely an idol-worshiper-in-training since his father worshiped other gods (Joshua 24:2). But God chose to lavish his grace upon him. And in his promise to Abraham, God declared his whole purpose and agenda for redemptive history – to bless all people of the earth through Abraham and his descendants. The rest of scripture is the story of God keeping His promise.
Don’t let anyone convince you that you need to send in some money or jump through any spiritual hoops for God to bless you. He is not stingy or sour; He is ready and willing. But His blessing might not take the shape you were hoping for or expecting. God doesn’t send His blessings like rain falling from the sky. He sent his truest trust blessing through a mediator, a messenger. The blessing promised to Abraham comes to all of us the same way: through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the blessing of God sent to this hurting world.
Now, if you are disappointed, and not fully grasping that Jesus is the ultimate blessing of God for your life and you were really hoping or expecting more, perhaps God is not the one with the hidden agenda. So, contemplate the substance of your agenda and bring it with all your hopes and dreams before Him, perhaps including your pastor, spiritual life coach, even a year long commitment to a devotional such as this, where you can meet the Trinity and He will bless you beyond anything you can imagine.
Promise Keeper, I’m grateful for your many blessings, but I will not worship them by requiring them. You are the blessing I must have, the one I worship. Jesus is mine! You have blessed me abundantly in Jesus!
Digging Deeper: Read Galatians 3. Who was cursed so you could be blessed? How does a Gentile become a child of Abraham to inherit the promises of God?
NEXT UP: Wrestling with God Genesis 32: 24-26. Can you relate?