Blessings

Blessed to Be A Blessing

I recently polled some of my readers to ask them what it means or looks like to bless others. I received a variety of answers, all of them the right answer. They ranged from a friend paying for a teaching certification to being humble toward others; blessing others with our time to praying for them and watching the Lord bless those we pray for.

(C) 2013 Jodi Cotten

I began to wonder what it means to be blessed to be a blessing, too. If I have money to pay for a family to have a meal out or to buy groceries, that is certainly a blessing. But blessing people doesn't have to involve money...at least I don't think it does.
Laura Story has a wonderful song out called Blessings. A few of the lines cause the listener to stop and think about the blessings the Lord has for us:
     "What if Your blessings come through raindrops? What if Your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near?"

And what if we are that person the Lord uses to be a comfort, an ear, a friend during the rain and tears and sleepless nights? What if just calling someone who hasn't been to church in a while and checking up on that person truly blesses that person and makes his or her day? 
I've come to realize that yes, we need money to do things for the Kingdom of God. But we also need to be with the people, both believers and non-believers, so that the Lord can use us as He sees the need in the lives of others.
We must shake off our own preconceived ideas of being a blessing or of blessing others. Instead, we must be open and willing to be used in any way because maybe that friend needs a gentle heart, a kind and loving and compassionate sister in the Lord to listen and pray rather than pay for a meal or a coffee out.

Blessings!