Wednesday, January 10, 2018

"Count your blessings! Name them one by one... see what God hath done."

Hymn: “Count Your Blessings” – Johnson Oatman, Jr. (1856-1922)
Tune: BLESSINGS

According to this hymn, some of the ‘rewards’ of counting your blessings are:
- It will surprise you what the Lord has done.
- You will be singing as the days go by.
- Angels will attend, bringing hope and comfort.
- Every doubt will fly.
- You’ll see what God has done.

None of us would likely sit down with a legal pad and begin making a list, naming all our blessings one by one. We know that would be a futile, unending endeavor. Our minds are boggled even before the pen touches the paper.

On the other hand, just considering our blessings as one big category is equally ineffective… if not worse. Making a wide gesture and declaring that “all these blessings” are from the Lord disallows us the special blessing of seeing each one individually… and appreciating them as separate indicators of God’s watchcare and provision in our lives.

Somewhere in between – that’s where we need to land. Looking at the overall swath of God’s blessings in our lives while being keenly aware of each one individually – even if unable to make an exhaustive list!

Tallying our blessings is one of the ways we can truly SEE what God has done prior to this place in our history. It makes us more conscious of what he is doing here and now; it also loosens the ground ahead to be more fertile – more open to receiving the blessings that await us between now and this time next year!



Hear a Fun Ragtime Setting of This Hymn

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Hymnlines - Hemlines: Get it?! :)

Hymnlines - Hemlines: Get it?! :)