An
Embarrassment of Blessings
Read
Matthew 20:1-16
Over
the years, I’ve had several people say to me that they would love
to write for our Lenten Devotions book, but “it would just sound
like I’m bragging.”
It’s
typically that God has blessed them so much that they want to share
their Joy and to say “thank you” to God and their church family.
Then they think about someone they know who has been fighting an
illness, or has just suffered the loss of a loved one, or any number
of other calamities, and it seems it would almost be mean to talk
about their own blessings. Basically, they’re embarrassed to be so
blessed.
I
completely understand that reluctance, but I’ve been rereading some
of the Callahan stories by Spider Robinson recently, and Callahan’s
Law struck me as exactly the antidote to that thinking: "Shared
pain is lessened; shared Joy, increased.”
Not
only that, but then I remembered that my blessings come from God, I’m
not bragging about me when I share my blessings, I’m bragging about
God. When it seems totally unfair that I get as much (or as little)
as I do, I think about that parable where the workers are all paid
the same amount by the landowner, even though some worked much longer
than others did.
It’s
not up to me to decide what’s fair – it’s up to God. When it
doesn’t make sense to me, when it looks like He’s playing
favorites, I have to remember who He is, and that I know that I don’t
know everything – frankly, I hardly know anything – but that I
trust Him, love Him, and can always count on His goodness.
So,
we can’t be embarrassed by the ways God has blessed us. What is it
to you if He gives you more than you deserve? It’s not a contest,
it’s a gift.
Charlie
van Becelaere
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