How do we respond to the blessings of God? Obviously with thankfulness. But what about the really big ones? The ones that are fulfillments of long-time promises, dreams come true, or answers to years of longing or prayer? More specifically, how do we enjoy the blessing of God without worshipping them? How do we keep our eyes fixed on the creator and not on His gifts?
It seems to me that while God is always the initiator of things, there is a portion that is our part to play in this and a portion that is God’s. For example, it seems to me that God divinely orchestrates the fiery seasons, the trials, the dark hour, the severe mercy, so that we will not become overly attached to the good things, the blessings, and things of this world. When are broken, we can become conduits for God’s blessings, letting them flow through us rather than hoarding them all up and calling them “my precious” like Schmeigel in Lord of the Rings. God breaks us so that we are safe. Unbroken people are unsafe recipients of His blessings. That is God’s part.
Our part then is to constantly be on guard for the subtle sin of letting things become internal. As soon as something becomes absolutely necessary for our life and well-being, it is threatening to be an idol.
I think Hannah from the OT is an excellent example to us in this regard. Here is a woman who truly longed for something–a child. This is the kind of longing I’m talking about-the aching yearning deep inside that is torturous. And, it might even be God-given, so it’s not like we can just forsake it, like a sin, and move on. So she longs and aches for this thing, and then, as God so often does, He brings fulfillment to this desire. Her son is born. Samuel the prophet. Not just any son, a son of promise, set apart for God. And what does she do? She kept the child with her until he was weaned (which could be anywhere from 2 years to 5 years), and then she takes him to Shiloh, and offers a sacrifice, and gives back her child to the Lord. And her famous words for us to follow are this:
“‘For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the LORD, as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord’. So she worshiped the Lord there.”
What an amazing response. I just weaned my son a couple weeks ago, at 20 months old. I cannot even imagine now having to give him up. In fact, I recently read this trilogy by Liz Curtis Higgs, a rendition of the story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah, and in it Leah has to give up her only son. I almost couldn’t even read the book, I cried so hard it devastated me, even comprehending the pain of giving over something I love so much. And that pain, that struggle is good, it’s real, but like Hannah, our response must always be that we commit all that God has given us back into His hands. As AW Tozer has said so perfectly, “everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.”
So this is the secret, the part that is our part, the secret that we must take hold up and put into practice-the blessedness of possessing nothing. All things remain external to our heart, there is a single throne there, where only the King of Kings may reign, and though rival loves may fight, tooth and nail, to earn their way to the center, we battle more, harder, stronger longer, to keep our Lord Jesus securely on the throne.