THE RIPPLE EFFECT BLESSING

Many times, we are blessed with an overflow of God’s finest blessings and we dare to think, that  we are the only ones who should benefit from that blessing.

But! It is about time we realize that God blesses us to be a blessing to others around us. He blesses us so that others may in turn be blessed.

I have been a partaker of a blessing, and not necessarily the person who prayed for that blessing and gosh! It felt awesome.

A few years ago, I worked with a young lady I fondly called Koko. We both resigned the job after working a while but stayed pretty close. Fast forward to a while after we both resigned she got a job with a new place and really loved her new job while I was in between jobs again. A chanced conversation with her boss, who surprisingly showed up at her engagement party, landed me the link to an interview at the place I currently work.

Who could have thought that my current job could have been linked to a job she got a year earlier?

Koko prayed for a new job and got that prayer answered but I, among many other people, gained from the ripple effects of that singular blessing.

Yesterday, as I returned from work, I read a story of a man whose neighbor delivered at the back seat of his car. Now reading the story, one would think the woman should be the one thankful for the gift of safe delivery but no! The man went on with a litany of praises, thanking God that the mechanic had fixed the problem he had with his car, making his vehicle available to get the woman to the hospital in good time since she was bleeding bad. He thanked God for his neighbors’ strong resolve in the face of hysteria.

He further thanked God for making him sleep earlier, else he would not have heard the knock on the door. He also thanked God for standby staff at the hospital who promptly received the mother and child to avoid further damage caused from excessive bleeding.

Do you see the link?

Everybody matters when it comes to the blessing chain- nobody is left out.

So next time when you get distracted by the selfishness that could overwhelm you when you get a taste of God’s blessing, remember you are a not a storage facility but a channel through which blessings should flow.

It does not matter how trivial you think that blessing is, just strive to see how to be a blessing to those who come your way.

 

Love Always,

Sitamka.

BABY STEPS TO MATURITY…

In our walk with God, as with every important phase of life, progress or do i say growth is important. In the sense that, we move from little “baby” steps to maturity (in this context we move from weakness to strength).

Photo credit: http://www.google.com

Watching my niece grow helped give me a  different understanding to the concept of growth. Watching her crawl as a baby and now watching her match up the stairs unaided or even watching her grow from making sounds that we barely understood at the time to making very clear statements is a wonderful blessing. It is an amazing sight to watch and I am filled with so much pride and joy every time she learns something new or perfects something she was not so good at. Sitting back to think of it, I wonder if that is how God feels each time we overcome weaknesses or gain strength in what used to be our weaknesses.

Our weaknesses are not the problem, but what we do about them is what matters. Do we surrender our weaknesses to God so that He helps us overcome our weaknesses or do we attempt to do it on our own? Before you decide which road to take, I will give a few scriptures that might aid your decision-making process.

1 Samuel 2:9b – “… for by strength shall no man prevail”

Philippians  4;13 – “For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

When Jesus Christ is your priority, you realize you are the main beneficiary of the relationship you both share. You probably just do not know it, but, you need that relationship more than you could ever understand. The best part of it all is that, He takes the burden off you and simplifies your relationship with Him – exchanging your struggles, burdens and worries with His rest. (Matthew 11:28).

So, what’s it going to be? The choice is yours… Are you going to let Him shoulder the weight of your fears, habits and weaknesses while you enjoy rest as He leads you down the path of righteousness? Or are you going to shoulder it all and keep walking blindly and most likely unsuccessfully down the path of righteousness?

Who better to lead you to any destination, at all, than some one who has tread the path to same destination?

One more thing, it is one thing to want God to lead you down the path of righteousness but it is another thing to move your feet when He leads. God will not force you to follow when He leads. What joy is there to be derived from a relationship born out of even the smallest bit of duress?

I pray you make a decision today to let God lead you and actually follow when He leads.

PRAYER;

Father, help me realize that you love me enough to make my walk with you a growth process, that in overcoming my weaknesses I could not only become stronger in my total dependence on you but that through the journey we could form a bond that could stand the test of time. Help me to hold fast to your hand when you lead and give me the grace to move my feet especially on the very tough days.