Don't Rob God of His Blessings!

I have been praying for many things these past few years. I've seen some prayers come to pass and others I'm still waiting for. You may or may not believe this, but God does answer our prayers. Maybe not in your timing or mine and He may not answer in the way we would like Him to, but, He does answer. Eventually.

And, sometimes, His answers are "No" or "Not Yet".

This can be very frustrating. When this happens to me, I find myself trying to talk Him into it! I figure it worked for Moses, so why not give it a shot!

But, He really does know us better than we know ourselves and He truly wants the best for us. And He does have the inside track on exactly what that is! Think about how much you love your children. Imagine this, He loves us even more than that.

Then there are those times that you pray for years about a particular thing, He finally answers in the affirmative and we still question it! Why do we do this? Or is it just me?

I probably frustrate the heck out of God. He'll send me EXACTLY what I've prayed for and I'll start questioning whether it's really from Him or whether I deserve it or not? Yes, it's from Him and no, I probably don't deserve it, but, He blesses me anyway!

My children, family and friends are the most important people in my life. I love and adore them and part of loving someone is wanting the best for them. Putting a smile on my children's faces brings tremendous joy to my heart. I want to provide for my children all they need and even some of what they want. I want to see my children's lives be a success. I want them to be happy. When they mess up, I want them to know I love them unconditionally. I want to be right there to help pick up the pieces when they fall or just assure them of my belief in them.

So, why is it that when God does the same and more for us, we question it. I've had many blessings in my life. As I've said, I probably haven't deserved most, but He has loved me enough to keep sending them. Yet, when I receive them, I can still find myself questioning Him. Why is that? He Himself promises blessings in life to "those who love Him", of which I am one!

I knew how much Kendra and Kolby loved High School Musical so I wanted to bless them by giving them tickets when their concert came into town. I was so excited. I had a plan. I would present them to the girls at dinner. I told the girls I had a big surprise for them! I just knew that they were going to be jumping up and down screaming for joy. The time had come. As we sat down for dinner, with a big smile on my face, I presented the tickets to the girls. Kendra (she IS a teenager, remember!) looked at me and said, "THAT'S IT! This is the big surprise!" I was crushed. Kolby started crying and said, "That is the meanest thing you've ever done to Mommy. She probably worked hard to get us these tickets. I NEVER want to speak to you again!" And off she went to her room. The evening was not going as I'd planned. Don't hear what I'm not saying. Kendra is a wonderful, sweet girl, who respects her mother. She was just in "one of those moods" that teenagers experience from time to time. If I had paid better attention, I would have recognized this and waited til she was in a better place. She immediately realized what she'd done and quickly made apologies to me. I accepted and I didn't take it personal. (We had a fantastic time at the concert too!)

Just like us, God LOVES to bless His children. He wants the best for me. He wants my life to be a success. He supports me and He's always been right there to pick up the pieces of my life when they've been shattered all over the floor. He encourages me, loves me unconditionally and He receives much more joy out of giving to me than I ever could have experienced giving those concert tickets. He LOVES to bless us. It brings Him pleasure. And, by accepting His blessings, I am able to bless Him back. I am making a vow to do my best to accept His no's and receive His yes'es. In 2008, I want to make it my mission to allow Him to love and bless me anytime He darn well pleases! If I won't do this, I'm not only robbing Him of His blessings, I'm robbing me of mine.

Maybe you need to start letting Him too.