leave room for blessings

"Brother Lawrence confided to me that the foundation of his spiritual life was the faith that revealed to him the exalted position of God. Once this became secure in the depths of his heart, he was easily able to do all his actions for the love of God. He truly understood that this solid faith in God was a great honor to Him and gave the Lord an open door to answer his prayers and shower blessings upon him."

Several months ago I read the above quote from The Practice of the Presence of God, and it shocked me. I went back to the top of the page and re-read it four or five more times. Something clicked. I knew that God wants my all, but until then I did not realize what He wanted to give me in return.

After a semester of learning for myself that God is trustworthy like He says He is, it is only appropriate that the following verse pop up a few days ago.

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "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." -Malachi 3:10

Prior to verse 10, God claims that we are "robbing" Him. Robbing is a strong word. God must be upset. It only makes sense that He is disappointed when we refuse to trust Him with our lives, thus not allowing Him any room to show up. For example, when we idolize schoolwork and put it before Him, we may receive the grades we so earnestly want to obtain. However, it is all on our own strength and God receives no glory. Contrastingly, when we put Him first, sacrificing time and activities to make sure that we are nourishing our relationship with Him, spending ample time in prayer and seeking His will in all of our decisions, we give Him the opportunity to reward us and rain down His good favor! Instantly, He is glorified. Outsiders are baffled, and everything points to the supernatural grace of a loving Lord and Savior who is sovereign over all--every little thing in our lives.

This can be applied in many other arenas of life as well. Whenever we make hard decisions for Christ, He loves, loves, loves to bless us. When we trust in His promises by obeying His commands and choosing not to gratify the desires of the flesh, God gives us the desires of our hearts.

"Delight yourself in the Lord & He will give you the desires of your heart." -Psalm 37:4

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." -Psalm 84:11

The truth is that God desires to bless us. What would our lives look like if we truly believed that?

When learning to swim, beginners hold onto the side of the pool and kick. And kick. And kick some more. However, swimming cannot actually be learned until you let go. In the same way, we cannot continue to grow in Christ without letting go and taking risks. Let's loosen our grip on things, give God some wiggle room and stand in awe as He pours out His blessings.