Do You Turn Away Blessings?

Do you turn away blessings? Your initial reaction will be, “No! Of course not. I pray for blessings. I’d never turn them down. They are God’s answers to my prayers.” But keep reading. 

We do nice things for people, but accepting someone else’s kindness --a blessings--is so hard. 

Example: My mom tells me not to clean house when she comes to see me, but when I visit her, she cleans house. I want my home to be comfortable for visitors and be a blessing to them. A clean home is my blessing to others. 

My dad still wants to pay for my gas when I come visit and I tell him not to worry about it sometimes, but I’m quite sure when my kids get big and come see me, I’ll want to pay for their gas, too. Will I get upset that they won’t let me do something for them? Maybe. It makes me wonder if my dad gets upset when I won’t let him bless me with a little thing like a full tank.

My maternal grand parents used to always buy our gas when we came to see them. I’m sure I will want to buy my own grand kids gas when they come and see me. I always let them. Once I declined and I could tell it hurt my grand father’s feelings, so I was always very grateful after that. 

On our vacation we visited the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, WY. While at the concession stand, an elderly man asked me if they sold bottles of water. I asked him if I could bless him and buy him a bottle of water. He turned down my blessing. I wonder if he realized he denied my blessing to him. 

Once at the grocery store, I paid for a lady’s groceries behind me. She let me bless her and was so appreciative. She said she would surely pass on the blessing to someone else.

We need to teach our children how to accept other’s blessings towards them with gratitude and humbleness just as much as we need to teach them to be a blessing to others. They watch us and our reaction all the time. Do they hear us praying for blessings and see us rejecting the blessings we are praying for? Do they see us not accepting help or nice jesters? 

Accepting blessings from others is hard, but we need to do practice it. 

Questions to ponder: Do have a hard time accepting Jesus' sacrifice for you? Do you have a hard time believing that you are who God says you are...his treasured possession? Do you have a difficult time accepting the free gift of grace?

How you handle receiving blessings now may be an indicator of how you are receiving God's gifts and Jesus' sacrifice.