Day 2 :: Made to Pour, Living a life of Blessing

I don’t know about you but life doesn’t always go the way that I want.

 

Shattered dreams, unwanted circumstances, miscarriage, death–life altering events that threaten to shake my soul.  I certainly didn’t ask for these things to happen, but they do.  We live in a broken world that constantly affects us, sometimes in painful and discouraging ways.

 

But it isn’t just the big life challenges that shake me.  The mundane, messy moments of day-to-day life seem to all too easily rob me of a steady soul.

 

Like the other night, when my 14 month old decided to act like a one week old baby and woke up every hour, wanting nothing to do with her bed and everything to do with being held by her mother.

 

And my four and five year old girls who bicker, quarrel, and speak unkind words to each other all.day.long.

 

Laundry piles up, sleep deprivation wears me thin, crumbs lie scattered on the floor regardless of how often I vacuum, the car won’t work right, I get stuck in the rain with my four small children and no umbrella, people disappoint me, and what is my response?  I’d like to say that my soul follows that of the psalmist’s:

 

Bless the LORD, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”  Psalm 103:1

 

But as I take inventory of my heart, I realize that my soul doesn’t always respond to the Lord with blessing.

 

I want it to.

 

To bless the Lord.  With every part of me.  And do it over and over again.  No matter what.

 

So, I started asking myself some questions:

 

  • What does it mean to bless the Lord?
  • How do I bless with all that is within me?
  • Why should I bless the Lord?
  • What if I don’t feel like He is blessing me?
  • What is hindering me from blessing Him?
  • Does blessing the Lord relate to blessing others, even my enemies?

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Through the month of October I’m going to make an effort to answer some of these questions.   I won’t pretend to be a biblical scholar; the idea of blessing in Scripture goes far beyond my theological understanding.  However, I do hope to uncover some of the ways my life can bless–the Lord and others.

 

God has filled me with blessings, yes (we’ll talk about some of those), but in Christ, I’ve also been filled with His Spirit.  My soul has been filled, shouldn’t it pour out of its fullness?

 

The dictionary definition of pour is:  to flow rapidly in a steady stream.

 

Maybe one of my jobs as a follower of Christ is to steadily and rapidly pour blessing upon God.

 

And, then to pour it out to others.

 

This month I’m inviting you to join me as I seek to answer what it looks like to live a life of blessing.

 

Day 3: What Does it Mean to Bless the Lord?

Day 4: We are Never Forsaken (A Puritan Prayer)

Day 5: Scripture for your Sunday

Day 6: The Gaze of the Soul

Day 7: Who is the Lord?

Day 8: For the Days when I don’t feel like Blessing the Lord

Day 9: Mason’s Favorite Song

Day 10: Every Bitter Thing is Sweet

Day 11: Links for your Weekend

Day 12: A Song for your Sunday

Day 13: Blessing the Lord when I don’t feel Blessed

Day 14: How my Skinny Jeans, Black Sweater and Boots Taught me to Bless God

Day 15: Blessing Can Come in the Waiting

Day 16: Blessing the Lord is Living a Life of Obedience

Day 17: The Key to being a Blesser

Day 18: Meet some Amazing Blessers

Day 19: What is my Great Purpose?

Day 20: The Blog Post You are going to Write

Day 21: When you don’t know who to bless

Day 22: Baked Goods are Always a Blessing {The BEST Brownie Recipe}

Day 23: 10 Ways to Bless your Husband

Day 24: How a Rainbow Led to a Conversation about Hell

Day 25: Blessing Others Should Become a Habit

Day 26: A Sunday Hymn

Day 27: The time I closed the blinds and refused to answer the door

Day 28: On Wondering How to Bless

Day 29: How to Pour when I’m Empty

Day 30: Pouring Comes from a Deeply Contented Heart

Day 31: Concluding Thoughts