Have you ever been so focused on receiving one type of blessing that you almost miss when God is trying to bless you in another way? I wonder if God sends these other blessings to let us know that he hasn’t forgotten us or our prayer requests. This week as we are in a season of thankfulness, I am reminded about a past lesson from God about being grateful.
More than I’d like to admit it, I’ve been in some dry spots in my own faith walk where I’ve spent much time in prayer and gotten disappointed by the prayer answer coming very slowly. I remember how a few years ago I got a reminder of how God wants me to be truly grateful for the smaller things before he trusts me with the bigger ones.
When I went to get my normal printing order before a speaking engagement, the print shop worker told me that he wasn’t going to charge me for the order because it was messed up. I told him that the file was the same one that I’d sent it in the past and there should not have been a problem. When out of habit, I reached into my purse for my wallet, he repeated that there was no charge. When I had a chance to look at the order, I thought it looked pretty good and didn’t really see what he was talking about. I arched my eyebrows slightly amazed but quickly said “Thanks!” and made my way to my car. As I closed the car door, I thanked God for saving me a little over $40.
Less than two hours after that, I was given a check that I was not expecting by someone that I had not expected to see that day. It was only 9:30 am and I was now close to $80 richer than when I’d started my day. A few hours after that, I was given a turquoise jewelry set as a gift for speaking at a conference. As the day progressed, I kept receiving blessings like that so that by the end of day, I was over $120.00 richer in cash or gifts of monetary value.
A few days after that I got a check in the mail that I was not expecting. At that point, I was overjoyed as I thought how God had blessed me in the past week. It made me want to repent for the times I questioned God about the delay in answering other prayers that I thought were more important.
This situation reminds me of Malachi 3:10: “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” Sometimes we have tunnel vision faith that focuses so much on what we’re believing God for when he sends these other seemingly “smaller” blessings.
These are designed to keep us encouraged as we wait in the meantime from “promise made” to “prayer answered.” Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.
Shewanda Riley is a Fort Worth, Texas based author of “Love Hangover: Moving from Pain to Purpose After a Relationship Ends” and “Writing to the Beat of God’s Heart: A Book of Prayers for Writers.” Email her at preservedbypurpose@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @shewanda.