“Once I cut down the weeds, I found that the ground was red with wild strawberries. I guess you’d call them a hidden blessing.”
As this dear man shared his testimony in Sunday school a few weeks back, my husband replied, “That will preach!”
Hidden blessings: How many blessings are hidden from our lives because of the weeds of sin that have crowded in and taken over the ground of our heart? Jesus promises showers of blessings await the heart that is obedient:
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6: 33
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents,
or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,
Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
Luke 18: 29, 30
And in the Old Testament, our heavenly Father also promises loads of blessings:
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house,
and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven,
and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Malachi 3:10
And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee,
if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Deuteronomy 28:2
A faithful man shall abound with blessings:
but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. Proverb 28:20
Does God hide or keep these blessing from us because He is mean? Never. If you are a parent, you may understand this concept a little better. You love to shower your child with blessings, but if there is disobedience in his heart and hands, the blessings stop–sometimes for correction, sometimes as instruction. We don’t taunt our children saying, “I have this for you, but you are not good enough to have it.” The blessings remain unseen until the problem is corrected; then comes the joy of pouring out the blessing!
God never dangles the reward before us like the proverbial carrot, bribing us to be good, because He knows the obedience will be for the reward and not for right. Likewise, we would do well not to bribe our children for the same reason.
Hidden blessings. It’s like a wonderful treasure hunt, seeking to do His will and searching our hearts for the weedy spots, so that we may please the Master. I just finished weeding the garden…again! It’s a lot of work! I am always amazed at how quickly those nasty weeds show up! If I don’t keep after it every week–what a mess!
Our hearts are even more susceptible to sin than my garden is to weeds. Just as the roots of those weeds are hidden beneath the soil, the roots of sin run deeply in our hearts, part of our very nature. All around us, the seeds of sinful thoughts blow, ready to take root at a moment’s notice! No wonder we are told to “pray without ceasing,” and, like the Bereans, who “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Ac 17:11
And then they come – the bountiful blessings from our God! The blessings of the soul are much sweeter than fresh wild strawberries, and more beneficial than the freshest picked vegetable… “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” Psalm 19:10
Beyond Common Sense 