Make Me a Blessing

God's means for his provision

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 17:8-16

              Henry Smith prayed, “Let me not so much think that the hand of man can hold me up in the least of my dangers, and yet my God, since you work sometimes by means, and sometimes without means, let me not refuse the aid of any man, whom it may please you to raise and appoint for my good.”

              There’s an old joke about a man sitting on the rooftop of his house because his town has been flooded and the waters are continuing to rise. He prays and asks God to save him and feels his prayers have been heard. Two different boats and a helicopter come by in succession and offer to rescue him. His response to all three is, “No. God is going to save me.” Well, he ends up drowning and when he arrives in heaven he complains to God, “I thought you were going to save me!” God responds, “I sent two boats and a helicopter! What more did you expect?”

              That joke is making a point similar to Smith. God works “sometimes by means, and sometimes without means,” is how Smith prays it. We see this in our eternal salvation. We know God alone saves us, and he does so through the gospel. But the gospel comes to us through the means of preachers, teachers, friends, writers, and strangers sharing the good news with us.

              Life works the same way. God heals. Sometimes he does so without means, that is, he heals directly. Most often, though, he uses means – doctors and surgeons and medicines. God is our provider. That’s why we pray, “give us this day our daily bread.” While we find a few occasions in Scripture where the manna drops miraculously from the heavens, most often it comes through employment and work, but that makes it no less the provision of God. It is God working, and he is working through means.

              Here are some thoughts we can take away from this principle:

·       Look to God to meet your needs. Always put your faith in him. Pray and ask God for what you need.

·       When your need isn’t met, don’t become bitter or blame the people you feel have failed you or let you down. Certainly, they are and will be held responsible for any way in which they have failed. But they are not your source. God is. Your bitterness toward them indicates your faith is in the wrong persons.

·       When God uses someone to help you, thank them. Although God is the fountain from which the stream of blessings flow, those blessing flow through channels to get to you. You do not diminish the glory of the fountain when you express gratitude to the channels.

·       While being grateful for and to the channels (the means God uses to bless you), remember to look upstream toward the fountain, the ultimate source of blessing, God himself. Sometimes, maybe most of the time, the means of God’s blessing won’t recognize they have been used by the Lord to get his resources to you. So, acknowledge that to God and them. Something like, “I thank God for how he has used you to be a blessing to me,” might work.

·       Since you know that God uses means to mediate his blessings to people in need, approach life each day with a mindset that you want to be available to be a channel of blessing to others. Desire to be used of God to this end. Keep your heart open toward God. Be led by the Spirit. Keep your eyes open for the opportunities God puts before you to bless others. Pray, “God, make me a blessing to someone today.”

·       Finally, since you know that God uses people like you to mediate his resources to people in need, don’t look at everything God puts in your hand as something you are meant to keep or consume. God might very well give you something for the sole purpose of using you to give it to someone else. Always approach everything you possess with the heart of a steward. Think of it, not so much as something you own, but something God owns. Always ask him what he wants you to do with it.