BLESSINGS
DURING TROUBLE
Ephesians
1:3-14
Ephesians
1:3: “Praise be to God and Father of our
lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
Ten year old Brad tossed a football
to his best friend Jeremy at the swimming pool’s recreation area. “Who were you throwing that to?” Jeremy
yelled. The football landed across the
fence in the tennis court.
Brad shrugged his shoulders, and
yelled back, “You couldn’t catch it?”
“Are you kidding?” Jeremy
challenged. “If I were six feet tall, I
couldn’t have caught that! What’s bugging
you today?”
Brad watched Jeremy retrieve the
football, then caught it as Jeremy tossed it back. He decided to admit what was wrong: “I’m upset
because I have no idea where I’ll be living when school starts”
“What?” Jeremy asked, alarmed. He walked over, tossing the football in the
air to himself, and stood in front of Brad.
“What’s going on, Brad?” he demanded.
“Dad’s at the work force today. He’s talking with a recruiter about getting a
new job.”
“What happened to his old job?”
Brad sighed. “This is getting old!” he said. “Dad lost his job last week. We sit around at night talking about what
could happen…I just don’t know.”
“I know when something like this
happens, everything looks awful.” Jeremy said.
“But not everything is awful, Brad.
Why don’t you concentrate on the good things?”
“Like what?”
“Remember whose you are, Brad!”
Jeremy suggested.
Brad needs to remember what’s
promised in Ephesians 1:4: God chose
Brad to be His before the creation of the world—to be holy and blameless in His
sight. But Jeremy offered a different
truth from Ephesians 1:5: “Well, I like
to think about how God adopts us as His kids.
Because we believe in Jesus, we belong in God’s family.” Jeremy said, confident that he’d get a smile
out of his friend.
Brad did smile. He said, “You’re right, of course.” Then he sighed. “I’ll let mom and dad figure this out—then go
where they say, if we must move away,” he decided.
“Brad, no matter what, I’ll always
be your friend!”
Take Home Nugget
God
blesses us always—even during trouble.
We just forget that, because trouble demands our attention. That’s the devil’s trick. He wants you to forget whose you are. Wouldn’t it be cool if the next time trouble
comes, you remember whose you are—and thank God? God’s kids never have to worry, because He
won’t let us fail. Check out the lesson
linked below to see five more blessings you can’t lose just because of a little
trouble.
Trouble may come today, but God’s
blessings are here to stay.
Trouble demands attention, but God’s
attention on you is more demanding.
J.D.
Griffith
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