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Missed blessings

Beatrice Klassen

Some time ago, I bought a new shirt for my husband John. I brought it home, pressed it and, without saying anything to him, hung it in the closet with his other shirts.

Days went by and he had not said anything about that shirt. John has been known to take quite a long time to notice some things – new light fixtures, rearranged furniture or a new knockout hairdo – but this shirt was his. It also was not like his other, conservative shirts. It had black and white checks. It did not exactly blend in. You can be very certain that if someone had put a new blouse on my side of the closet, it would not be long before it was noticed. I suppose if I had hung a large sign with neon lights that said “SHIRT! SHIRT!” just above it, John would have seen it.

Finally, I asked John why he had not yet worn his new shirt.

“What new shirt?”

“The one in the closet.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Go and look.”

John disappeared into the closet and emerged with a sheepish expression on his face and the shirt in his hand. “This one? How long’s it been there?”

When I explained, we both had a good laugh. I teased John about that for a few days, getting a lot of mileage out of his lack of attention to the world around him.

Then the Lord began to poke me in the ribs. He reminded me of my own frequent inability to see what is in front of my eyes. The reason John had not seen the gift I had given him was because he had not expected it to be there. How often have I missed seeing the blessings of God because I was not expecting them to be there?

Elijah was asked by God to meet Him on the mountain. Elijah waited for God at the appointed place. “Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave” (1 Kings 19:11-13). If I had been on that mountain, I would have been certain God would appear in the majestic thunder or the consuming fire. When it didn’t happen that way, I might have missed seeing God.

God has performed miraculous things in my life, including physical healing through prayer some years ago. God is a God of thunder and fire – the supernatural and sensational. Sometimes He uses flashing neon lights to draw our attention. More often, it is through His gentle whispers that He sends life’s greatest blessings.

Look around you. God’s blessings are everywhere – a toddler dancing in joyful abandon, the companionship of your best friend, a walk through fall woods and the beauty of stars on a dark summer night. Have you considered the gift of a quiet moment watching your tiny child sleeping, seeing the sun rise over a lake or praying with someone you care about? Perhaps God’s gift to you today is simply five consecutive moments of quietness when you have time to reflect on God’s goodness. Everyday containers hold some of God’s greatest gifts.

The greatest blessing of all is the one I frequently ignore – perhaps because it’s been with me for so long. That is the blessing of life and having my future assured. Jesus came to give us life, the kind of life that is rewarding, enriching, useful and eternal. Paying the penalty for my sin through His death on the cross, He provided all those things and more. In my zeal for the miraculous, I am prone to miss seeing that most precious blessing.

I have been praying that God would open my eyes, that He would help me to see Him at work, blessing my life in countless quiet, ordinary ways. Do you expect to see God, to hear Him? Or does it take flashing neon for Him to get you to notice His love gifts to you? Listen to His loving whisper.

Beatrice Klassen lives in Niagara Falls, Ont.

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Last modified January 31, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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