Words of Blessing - HCOC

Long time since my last post. Crazy!

The power of the spoken word is amazing. I feel compelled to bless others through my words more regularly. Stumbling across some powerful written prayers recently, I desire to spend more time writing out prayers and blessings. I start with a blessing for our congregation at Huntsville Church of Christ. It is one that mimics the blessing Isaac made over Jacob in Genesis 27:27-29.

"Wow! What an amazingly gracious and forgiving people who truly know how much the Lord has forgiven them!

May the Lord work his powerful character among you all and bountifully increase the number of His people.

May whole communities come to you to learn about and participate in the Lord's work.

May all kinds of people find in you a love so great and abundant that all receive the blessing of life with God Almighty.

May you take advantage of the Lord's blessing you and actively pursue greater understanding of Him.

May He sustain you and protect you always."

God Provides

I have always noticed the way in which God provides immediately after the fall of man in Genesis 3. Right after God curses the serpent, the woman, and the man he turns and provides for his creation. "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." Genesis 3:21.

You wouldn't think that God would have it in him. You would think that God should let them live with the consequences of their sin forever. In some ways he did do that. They could no longer be in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23). But in other ways he continued to provide for them. And notice that God provided for them before he banished them from the garden.

Do we see that God is the provider first or the banisher?

I stumbled upon something as I read through this account again. Adam and Eve continued to believe that God was their provider. How do I know this? I see it in their eldest son, Cain. He always gets the bad rap for killing his brother, Abel. And rightly so. But, after God announces Cain's curse, I notice what he says...or rather I notice what is assumed in his statement.

"Cain said to the Lord, 'My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.'"

Cain knows, despite the evil in his heart, that God provides life. He is terrified of what will happen apart from God's presence; he will certainly die! If he didn't learn anything else, he did have it right that God is the one who provides. Cain must have gotten this lesson from his parents. They knew God provided for them and passed this on to their children. Remember they did bring offerings to the Lord (Genesis 4:3-4).

I know God provides, but how do I arrange my life so as to recognize that he does just that? I think about my offerings. I think about my heart. I think about my life. God provides.