Written by Pastor Jack Wellman“God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.”
– Augustine
Augustine Quote Commentary – Receive God’s Blessings
In one of the most powerful statements in the Bible, Jesus compared God’s love to the love of evil men to their children. Jesus said that even men who are evil would not give bad or evil gifts to their children. He pointed out that they responded in love. How much more would God, the ultimate good father, be merciful, gracious, and loving towards us? Jesus was highlighting how good God is. Jesus was making it clear that God is not stingy nor is he content to give us the bare essentials. No, in parable after parable, it seems that God the Father refused to count or even be bounded by normal human boundaries of generosity. He forgives countless times. He compensates abundantly. He is generosity and graciousness personified. If you are going through tough times with your finances and you feel that the blessing flowing your way amount to a mere trickle, keep in mind God’s goodness. Keep in mind God’s character as described by Jesus Christ. God gives abundantly. God overflows our cups. But there is one problem-we filled our cups already with stuff other than God’s blessings.
Choose to receive today
You can’t receive the full measure of God’s blessings when the bag or cup you’re using to collect the blessing is already full or halfway full with other stuff. As Augustine said about God’s goodness, we can’t accept or handle God’s generosity because our hands are already full. When we fill our lives with worries or striving after the world’s riches or we are too entangled in stress, unforgiviness, fear, pride, problems, and everything else the world throws our way, we fill our cups. Not surprisingly, as much as God pours blessings in limitless and powerful torrents into our lives, our full hands or full cups, filled with the world’s cares and worries and pettiness, crowd out the blessings. Not surprisingly, we end up with very little of God’s blessings if at all. And we have the nerve to blame Him for not blessing us enough?
Empty your lives of other conerns
The key to enjoying the huge bounty of God’s blessings in our lives is to make sure we have emptied our lives of other concerns and worries and make the necessary space for God’s grace and blessings. This is easy to grasp intellectually but from a purely practical level, it can only happen if you trust and believe in God. In other words, if you have full faith in Him. Let your faith, your conviction and hope in things unseen, pave the way for a surge of grace in your life starting today. Are you ready to reach out in trust and clear out your bag or your hands as you ask God to bless you?
