Spiritual Blessings and Spiritual Wisdom

This morning while bemoaning the cold temperatures and snowstorm raging outside my window - yes, in mid April! I was trying very hard to list some of my not so obvious blessings. There were the usual ones that always come to mind during this exercise, salvation, husband, children, home and food. But I need something more. I needed something solid to put my feet on, anchor my day and my thoughts onto something that would put a smile on my face and give me encouraging words to offer to those I would impact today.

With my bible open in my lap - and of course a coffee in my hand - I pondered what God would have for me this morning. I am currently reading through the Old Testament, and I continued my chapter in Exodus, which I very much enjoyed, but then I journeyed through the worn and colorful pages in my bible to particular part in my bible. In very large printing, I have the words, "God's Grace Changes Everything!" above the title of the book of Ephesians. Immediately I noticed two headings in chapter 1.

Spiritual Blessings (verses 3-14) and Spiritual Wisdom (verses 15-23).

Spiritual Blessings

As I read through verses 3-14, I was struck with God. "God decided" (v.5) what follows this declaration has nothing to do with my merit or value in and of myself, "to adopt us." Often we don't see just how needy we are. We think we have something of value to offer to God. "I go to church", "I try to be a good mom", "I am faithful to my spouse, boss, or business partner" or "I volunteer my time". I love how God speaks to us in the second half of that verse - why did God pay such a dear price to adopt me? "This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure" This adoption is not just for the elite few who have the right connections or do better than their neighbor. We are told in verse 13 that "when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own." This is for everyone! It doesn't matter where you find yourself on earth right now, this Spiritual Blessing is for you if you put your trust in Christ and the most amazing part, is that having us as children in his family gives God great pleasure!

Spiritual Wisdom

As his child, a child of the King, I want to be able to live in a manner that reflects all the goodness, and characteristics of God. To do this, I need "spiritual wisdom and insight" (v.17) Paul tells us that when we gain this spiritual wisdom and insight from spending time with God we "grow" and our "hearts will be flooded with light...understanding...and confident hope" (v. 17-18)

Now I don't know about you, but everyday I need light, understanding and confident hope - and it seems I need a double portion during this time of social distancing. It is so easy to see the negative, the never-ending, the loneliness. So many days I see the question of my own heart reflected in my three teenager's eyes... when will this end??

I don't have any idea when this will all end, or what the long term impacts will be. Being a Christ-follower doesn't give me any insight on his timing, or plans, but I do know and can say with the utmost confidence "I cried out, 'I am slipping! but your unfailing love, O Lord supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." (Psalm 94:18-19)