Your Only Competition

When it comes to blessings, for those who have accepted Christ, your only competition is you. What God has set aside for you is yours to gain (notice I didn't say, or lose). He wants to bless you. The question is when and how. Those are usually determined by when is best for you, i.e., when can you handle the blessing that is coming your way; when will it be most beneficial to you. And, how likely are you to give God the glory, rather than take the glory for yourself or give it to someone else other than God.

I have learned that when I am expecting a promise of God and a trial presents or repeats itself, God is giving me another opportunity to pass a test. How can one pass these tests? Second Chronicles 7:14 gives us some insight. Humble yourself, pray, seek God's face, and turn from wicked ways. Humble yourself and recognize that we are not Sovereign or in control. Yes, we have free will, but we must not use that free will as a license to put our own agendas at the forefront, while forsaking the life that God has called us to live.

Pray and seek God’s face. It took me a long time to realize that this really is a simple task. It means we need to talk to God about everything; every joy, heartache, dilemma and triumph. Listening to God and seeking His face are much simpler than we make them out to be as well. All we need to do is read His Word, understand how it applies to our lives and spend dedicated time with God. This is not a few minutes in the nooks and crannies of our day, but real, intimate, set aside, private time to just meditate on Him.

Turn from your wicked ways means turning from attitudes and behaviors that you know do not represent God well. It also means seeking God’s will for your life, so that you can make an intelligent choice between right and good. Not everything that is good is right within God’s plan for your life. It is somewhat easy to tell what the wrong behaviors and attitudes are, but you have to have real communion with God to know when actions that are considered good will delay God in working things out for your good.

Your blessings are between you and God. No person or demon can steal them. If you look through the Bible, there are so many examples that God always keeps His promises, regardless of what any enemy or competitor of the promise does. I bet if you look in the mirror, you will see evidence of God keeping His promises, too. So, recognize God for what He is doing and has done in your life, not what you perceive He is not doing. Trust that the list of trials He has kept you from is much longer than the list of tribulations you have and will go through. All you have to do is watch the news or peruse social media to see the evil from which God has protected you and is protecting you.

Every circumstance that happens in your life can be a testing, a lesson, a blessing or some combination of the three. It is up to you, and no one else, to maximize the potential in your circumstance. Ask God how to use what He allows in your life to bring you closer to Him and thank Him for desiring closeness with you. Ms. EV