Are you spoiled rotten?  I am!  We have so many things.  Before we moved to a brand-new home,  we spent years getting rid of this-and-that.  Not just our own, but boxes and boxes of our kid’s stuff that they didn’t want either.  My old set of pipes(gave up smoking, praise the Lord, many decades ago!)were tossed out,  sofas and tables given a second lease on life through Habitat for Humanity.  Clothes had shrunk due to humidity(!), given to the Gospel Mission in town.

So much stuff.  Spoiled rotten.  Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3: 21-22 that ‘…all things are yours…all are yours…’  Now he’s not referring to what we found in the crawl spaces of our attic that we had forgotten about!  No, he’s referring to all those blessings from the Lord.  All freely given to us…none deserved.

Examples?  Saving us from the consequences of our sins.  All forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ, Him alone.  Doing for us what we could never do for ourselves.  For the food we eat.  Where we live.  You name it, a blessing from the Lord.

But what about the disappointing and hurtful times in our lives, you ask?  Those also!   A friend mentioned that the stroke she had years ago, was a blessing from the Lord as it removed the stress of letting go of her old job.  Now she can be herself. The smile on her face was contagious.   A blessing.  Even a debilitating stroke.

I have a real heart for children’s ministry.  I love kids.  I have such fun with them…and maybe why my grandkids all call me ‘silly papa’!  This tug toward children, I think,  comes from my polio experience at the age of two and all that entailed for one so young.

My loss…a child’s gain.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  This was God’s path,  preparing me for my calling in His service.  Was polio good?  No, of course not.  Did God work it together along with other experiences in my life for His good as He said He would in Romans 8:28?  What do you think?  Of your experiences?

I’m not sure that I would be sensitive to the frailties in others if I had skated through life blemish-free.   Polio…divorce…losing a church…not fun or good in themselves, but in the Master’s hands?  His creation of used-up clay and dust made into something useful for Him… and others.  Don’t glorify the negative in life.  Glorify Him who can turn lemons into you-know-what!  Ah, lemonade…on a hot day, so soothing and refreshing.  Like all those blessings from the Lord.  Thank Him– today… tomorrow.  Don’t stop then!

Prayer:  Thank you Lord for everything.  All things from your giving hands for good.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.