01/23/2009

Psalms 44:1 (HCSB) ¹    God, we have heard with our ears—
    our forefathers have told us—
    the work You accomplished in their days,
    in days long ago:
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My cousin, who is many years older than me, told a story of how our grandfather had a broken refrigerator.  Being a strong believer, my grandfather and cousin prayed over the refrigerator, and it began to run.  My mother tells a story of how her dad (the same man) had a washateria in an area and because he prayed over the pipes, he had soft water, but every other place in town did not.  She tells of how grasshoppers devastated crops all around their farm, but would not cross the fence into her dad’s fields because he had prayed over them.  She tells of how he prayed for rain and rain came and when they drove to town, the rain ended at the edge of their property. 

My father tells of how his parents had so little money that they were down to counting coins to pay their bills.  Then counted several times and when they came up short, they prayed about their situation.  When they counted again, it was just enough.  How can you explain that?   

These stories sound like fairy tales, and indeed there is an air of mystery about them.  But, I knew the men they were talking about.  And of course, I know my parents.  I experienced their faith, and I know my parent’s honesty.  So, when I hear these stories, I believe them and revere God for his provision for them.

I am blessed to have been raised in a home with a Godly heritage.  I have heard from my forefathers stories about how God provided.  I have heard how God accomplished his work in their days.

You may be blessed with a similar heritage.  Or, perhaps not.  But here is the point to take away from this.  You can build a heritage for your children. 

God can and will work in your life.  Do you see how the stories above are all birthed from hardship?  I don’t know of a single story of God’s grace that is the product of affluence and abundance. 

In the difficult times, in the desperate times, those are the times when we can call on God and look to him to provide and thus hand down to our children and grandchildren, stories of God’s blessings.  So, we should not despair in the hard times, because those are the times that God demonstrates his blessings in awesome ways.

Maybe we not all be blessed with the legacy of stories from our grandparents, but we can provide a legacy to our descendants.  What are you doing in your life today that will produce a legacy of God’s blessings that you can hand down to your children and grandchildren? When hard times come, are you looking for those blessings rather than grumble about the situation?

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