"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
So this past week I received many turkey stories via email and in person after writing about the Gobble Gang last week. You know, the wild turkey gang that keeps showing up near to where I work. They make me nervous. I don't like them. I have a bad history with wild turkeys and it's not pretty.
My favorite story came to me in church Sunday morning from my friend Eunice. She and her husband live in a place with a beautiful view. They have a few small trees in their back yard that have some type of berries on the top. They've actually witnessed a Gobble Gang fly up to the tops of these trees and plop right down on them so they can eat the berries. The trees are small. Light weight. Delicate. Not sturdy. So when the gobblers sit on top of them, the trees bow over, creating a ridiculous picture. Can't you see it? The Gobble Gang in the tree tops and the trees bending over so far the gobblers' gobbles are lost in the ground, which their wattles are touching. And for what? Teeny tiny berries that won't make one bit of difference in their big tummies.
A comical picture and yet, at times it reminds me of myself. Let's say the berries are blessings. In the Bible it says that God wants to bless us. Just like a father wants good things for his children, God wants only good things for us.
And if you're like me, you want to be blessed. You're ready for some of those blessings. You say, "Here I am, Lord. Give it to me and give it to me now!"
But sometimes God calls us to wait for those blessings. To be patient. To have faith they will come. To grow in faith while we wait. To have the discipline to obey and wait. To go through a certain season first. But sometimes we don't want to wait. We want instant blessings. Now!
So, using our little human brains we think we'll go get those blessings for ourselves. We ignore the Holy Spirit trying to counsel us to wait. We ignore the Bible verses that keep popping into our heads. Ones with the theme of waiting upon the Lord. Other giant neon signs come our way that say, "God will bless you. Just wait. And they will be humongous blessings." So do we wait? Of course not.
We find ourselves in a giant grocery store of possibilities for those who wait upon the Lord. We see several beautiful neon lights flashing. No free popcorn here, but other things like Peace of Mind. Spiritual Growth. The Peace that Passes Understanding. Joy that Comes from Long Suffering and more. So much more. Every shelf is filled with blessings. And they overflow. The more people receive them, the more the blessings grow.
But we don't want to wait. Like Abraham's wife, Sarah, we get tired of waiting. We lose faith. We try to take things into our own (incapable) hands. How do you think that works out? Not so good.
We're like the Gobble Gang. We exert so much energy getting to the top of the blessing tree that when we get up there, we can do no more. We can barely open our mouths. We can barely grab the blessings that we have a hard time seeing. They're so teeny tiny even up close. From the ground didn't they look bigger? It's like being on the old game show "Lets' make Deal." You could choose Door Number One, but you see a big box with a shiny bow. You pick that instead. When they open the box there's one dirty sock inside. And behind Door Number One? Treasures beyond anything you could have dreamed up.
So the teeny tiny berry blessings are like the dirty sock. Nothing at all what they looked like from the ground. In reality, they are simply nothing. They don't give any nourishment. They do not satisfy our thirst. They don't feed or quench any type of spiritual hunger.
So how can we get blessings from God?
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
And don't be part of the Gobble Gang. Wait on the Lord. He's worth it.
My mother gave me this article last night and it was just what I needed to hear. Sometimes I look for answers or small signs that this wait is exactly what the Lord is calling us to do. Like He owes me that or something?!?!? but He sure knows how to speck to me when I'm being still and listening instead of making so much noise myself.
I feel truely blessed this Thanksgiving, for a God that never quits, a wonderful hubby, 2 boys, a daughter waiting for us, my family, my church family, our carrers, our home, our health and thats not all I could go on and on but as we traveled home tonight from spending Thanksgiving with my parents in law I was thinking about something Im thankful for but don't think I ever expressed it so out of the blue or random like Austin says I told Jamie and the boys that I was thankful for Amara's mom and dad. Jamie just looked at me..he got it but Austin says why mom, well if it wasnt for those two very special people that I may never met we wouldnt have Amara. So tonight, no matter where they are I'm thanking God for their lives.
Remember to thank the Lord for all your blessing
