“I will bless you … so that you will be a blessing to others.” ~ Genesis 12:2
The pandemic caused shortages of
almost everything. But for Damian, a
shoe store owner, it presented an unusual opportunity. By pure luck (and a blunder in his ordering
practices), he’d received so many shoes that he was forced to store the surplus
in a nearby warehouse.
“Could this be the perfect time,” he wondered, “to actually
raise prices?”
While prayerfully considering the idea, Damian answered a
call from a local Pastor. It seemed that
one of her congregants with four children had lost her job and was forced to
move from the house they were renting into a one-bedroom apartment across
town.
She’d packed what few belongings
they had into a few boxes and a garbage bag.
The next day while unpacking, she realized that the garbage bag into
which she’d put all their shoes was missing.
Frantic, the single Mom called
the landlord and asked if he’d seen the bag of shoes. With sincere apologies, he admitted to seeing
the bag, but since it was left behind in a garbage bag, he assumed it was trash
and already disposed of it.
“The woman was devastated,” explained the Pastor. Her church and work shoes were in the bag
along with the children’s school shoes. She
couldn’t afford to replace them.
The story is real. The woman felt very blessed to have her prayer answered so precisely, completely, and quickly. God could’ve just provided her with some side work so she could have earned the extra money to replace her family's shoes.
God could also have
chosen to have someone just give her cash so she could replace the shoes.
There were countless other ways that God could’ve seeded
money into the woman's life; but He chose instead to bless her with a big bag
of shoes. No more than the woman needed,
and no less.
God blesses us in his own way on His own time. It’s up to us watch for and act on those
blessings. Damian too was blessed. He understood both reasons why God blesses
us. We’re blessed (1) because He loves
us, and (2) so we can be a blessing to others.
Compared to the world’s truly poor, we American’s are
wealthy beyond belief. The blessings God
gives us are intended to be shared, especially the inestimable blessing of
salvation and all the other good things the Lord has given to us.
