Scattered Blessings

Proverbs 11:24-27

'There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; And there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: And he that watereth shall be watered also himself. He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: But blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: But he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. '

"Scattered Blessings"

Blessings: We all know what they are and what they mean to us.

It’s when you pull up to the supermarket and there's a spot right up front screaming your name: Pull in here!!! Thank you Lord for a parking space!!!

It’s hearing the laughter of your friends after you nailed a punchline: Thank you Lord for blessings!

It’s that perfect day that is stress free and productive: God thank you for blessings!

It is forgiveness from another person, even forgiveness for yourself.

It is a surprise you were not expecting, but it happened anyway: It was Just thinking about you, and just because kind of blessings!

It’s a warm feeling of happiness that radiates from your heart.

It is a hug from someone you love.

It’s fitting into your jeans at the end of summer.

It’s protection during a storm.

A smile from a friend

Dinner with plenty of food.

Waking up the next morning, refreshed and full of energy.

It could be different things to different people.

So many things that are too numerous to mention.

And these kinds of blessings are all too easy to overlook, ignore, and take for granted.

And yet, without these blessings: Our life would be gray and void of any real colorful bliss.

Dorthy said of the land of OZ - “There's no place like home.”

Yet where she came from: Home was a dreary grayscale black and white canvas of Kansas on a boring farm.

Listen, she had been translated to a technicolor dream world with a talking lion, scarecrow, and tin man, flying monkeys, mystery, wonder, excitement and adventure… Yet with all the exciting things to do she wanted to go back home?

If I were to re-write the story today, I would have suggested she just stayed there…

We have a similar story about the children of Israel leaving the bondage of Egyptian slavery to follow God on a yellow brick road journey through the red sea, onto the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey!

Yet we find the entire congregation of the children of Israel in Exodus 16:2 - 'murmuring and complaining against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:'

What was the reason for their complaint?

In Verse 3 They said, 'Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.'

They were missing out on the deliverance and blessings of God all because they were hungry: God proved his faithfulness by providing them with manna - A bread from heaven!

In Numbers 11:4 'The multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? In Verse 5 - They said “We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

They can remember what they ate freely, but they never really were free… They were afflicted and given the leftovers the Egyptians didn’t want.

They were slaves in bondage and abused by taskmasters.

The enemy would like to get your focus bent on what you don’t have, that you forget what you do have “BLESSINGS!”

In Verse 6 - They said “But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes!”

What God had done for Israel by providing manna from heaven was providing for them “Scattered Blessings!”

Look what this manna was in Verse 7 - It reads - The manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. Verse 8 - And the people went about, and gathered it , and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. Verse 9 - And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.'

Can I tell you that God has the fresh oil of his anointing and blessings scattered all around you!!!

And if we are not careful we are too busy seeing the problems in the world and what’s going wrong, that we forget what God has done to provide for us, to bless us, to anoint us, and keep us safe!