There are days, when I take the time to notice the blessings bestowed upon me, I cannot help but be overwhelmed. Looking around the world, it’s ridiculous how incredibly blessed I am. Chances are, if you are reading this blog, your circumstances are similar. We have much for which to be thankful. To our detriment, it seems we spend far more time complaining about what we don’t have than allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed with what we do.
For starters, if we have Jesus, what else could we possibly need? Anything other than Christ is just a temporary salve for a temporary wound. We are made complete in Jesus. Yet, God didn’t stop with the most incredible blessing ever. He continues to pour out His goodness into our lives.
When we think of blessings, we often default to thinking of physical items. We look at the comforts and entertainment our life has afforded to us. Certainly, I could become overwhelmed looking only at the tangible items within my reach. I don’t deserve any of it. Every bit of it is a bonus anyway. I have Jesus. Take away everything else, and I’ll still have him. That alone leaves me overwhelmed. We refer to Christ as the priceless gift of God, but do we really understand how true that is? Is there anything in this world for which you would trade Jesus? Not a chance in my book!
There are many examples throughout Scripture of God’s provision for His people, both as a whole and individually. Think about Elijah being fed by the ravens (I Kings 17:1-7). How insane is that? Even more incredible to an animal lover like me, Jesus turns around and talks about how He provides for the birds as well (Matthew 6:26). Perhaps the most famous example of God’s provision is when He supplied bread from Heaven to feed the entire nation of Israel. My favorite part of this story is how they were only able to gather enough for the day (Exodus 16:14-20). They couldn’t hoard food. They couldn’t make themselves appear richer or more blessed in their supply of food. God provided just enough for their needs for one day.
It reminds me of one of my favorite passages in the Bible, Proverbs 30:8,9. It says, “give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” I only ask for God’s provision for this day, and what does He do? He blesses me with exponentially more! It is overwhelming, the love he has for us.
I recognize you may be struggling financially as you read this. You may wonder where your blessings are. Look around you. Has God provided enough food for you to live today? Has He provided some shelter and clothing? You are blessed beyond measure! You not only have Jesus, you have these things as well! There are those in the world who are starving, both spiritually and physically. Those of us who have been blessed beyond measure have a call and responsibility to help them (Matthew 25:31-46). Take a moment to look around you. Allow yourself to be overwhelmed. Then pray and ask God what He would have you do with the excess. When you give to help others, be prepared – again – to be overwhelmed by the extravagant, all-consuming, overwhelming love of our King.