“I will bless those who bless you…”

Thousands of years ago, God made a promise to a man named Abram (later to be renamed Abraham) and his descendants: “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you…” (Genesis 12:3a). This was one powerful promise, one that was passed on by Abraham’s son Isaac to his son Jacob. God went on to promise Abraham, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” If you read on, you will learn that Abraham and his family were blessed with wealth, children and honor. As God also promised, the world was ultimately blessed by one of Abraham’s descendants, Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we don’t feel like we are very blessed, do we? When times are tough in our lives, we may find ourselves wondering where are those blessings that God promised? We tend to think of blessings as just abundant possessions and wealth; as they might be, but God knows that these trappings may not always be “blessings.” God has promised “never to leave us nor forsake us (Deut 31:8, Heb 13:5).” Is this not an amazing blessing? King David made a very comforting observation in Psalm 37:25: “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.”

If we trust Him completely, we can be assured that God provides exactly what we need, right when we need it. We need to seek Him first, as Matt 6:33 instructs us, and then we can quit worrying about the stock market, the economy and our future because He will take care of us. I love the prayer of Agur in Proverbs 30:8(b) - 9:

“Give me neither poverty nor riches –

Feed me with the food allotted to me;

Lest I be full and deny you,

And say, ‘Who is the Lord?’

Or lest I be poor and steal,

And profane the name of my God.”

This in no way gives anyone permission to be lazy or greedy, because the Word also has plenty to say about that, but if we use the talents God has given us to bless others and trust in His divine providence, we can cruise through hard times counting on the promised blessings from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

“A God Thing”

Have you ever noticed that when good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people, we tend to say with confidence that “It was a ‘God’ thing?” But when good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people or even when tragedies like the Haitian earthquake strike, we are at a loss for words? How can God let this happen? Why do the rich seem to grow richer while the poor become poorer, despite the best intentions of socialist policies, charity and social justice?


Words cannot express the loss that we feel at the death of a loved one or a major setback in life. The most powerful comfort often comes from those who have experienced similar losses in their lives.

The story of Job in the Bible is an amazing testimony of one man’s faithfulness in the midst of ultimate loss. He was a righteous man before God, but he was the unwitting subject of a contest of sorts between God and Satan. Job was a wealthy husband and father with ten grown children. In a very short time, his children were all killed and his wealth and health were taken from him. All he had left were his unsupportive wife and “friends” who came not to comfort him but to try to get him to confess some sin that they assumed was the reason for Job’s misfortune.

Despite his dire circumstances, Job refused to curse God, but rather spoke with amazing clarity his philosophy about God’s sovereignty,

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” And again, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 1:21; 2:10b)

When we hear of people who have experienced similar loss, they often express one of two perspectives. Either they mourn that “all is lost; life is over” or that “it was all just stuff and we are thankful to still be alive.” As much as we would like to think that we are in control of our “stuff,” we are truly just one earthquake, fire or flood away from utter devastation. What would you say if that happened to you? If you trust in this sovereign God and remember daily that He has provided everything you have, the answer will be clear.