Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 (CSB)
The venerable song of the church urges us to “Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.” The command sounds good until we realize we have more blessings than we could count. What did Paul mean when he told us that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing?
Perhaps instead of merely counting our blessings, we should be asking God to open our eyes so that we can see and appreciate benefits, many of which we are not even aware of receiving. We should like to believe that if we are made aware of even a fraction of God’s blessings to us, the giving of thanks will come naturally to each of us.
We will find that blessings do not always look like blessings to us. For instance, Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 (NIV). Wait a minute; are not blessings supposed to be things we enjoy? The benefit may not be in the moment, but the result is a blessing.
It would seem that some of the greatest blessings come to us disguised as persecution. In order to really appreciate how God has blessed us, we must have our eyes opened so that we can see things as they are and not just according to our preconceived notions.
All along the Way
For the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the Lord your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”’ Deuteronomy 2:7 (NLT)
Israel went through many struggles in the wilderness. Their own disobedience often caused them, but God took care of them and watched them all along the way. In our journeys, God intervenes for us even when we are unaware of his presence.
God can bless us, and we don’t even know it. The proper mindset is for us to believe that he is always watching over us, and because we love him and we are called according to his purpose, he is working everything out for our good (Romans 8:28).
A couple of years ago, Michael W Smith released the song, Waymaker. I love these lyrics: “Even when I don’t see it, you’re working. Even when I can’t feel it, you’re working. You never stop. You never stop working.”
King David said: Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Psalm 23:4 (NLT). Perhaps the greatest blessing is for us to realize that God is with us even when we are unaware of his presence. David also observed, I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul. Psalm 31:7 (NLT)
Every Spiritual Blessing
Returning for a moment to Ephesians 1, what did Paul have in mind when he referred to every spiritual blessing? In the verses that follow, he goes on to list many benefits:
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Ephesians 1:4 (NLT)
We see that we were not an afterthought, but from the beginning, actually, before the beginning, God loved us and chose us. His purpose for us is to be holy and without fault in his eyes. We could stop right here and be satisfied that we are blessed far more than we deserve. But Paul goes on:
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. Ephesians 1:5–6 (NLT)
Talk about a blessing; God has adopted us into his own family. Not only did God adopt us, but it gave him great pleasure. I am thinking, “The pleasure is all mine,” but God willingly adopted us with all of our flaws and shortcomings. In fact, as Paul would go on to explain in chapter 2, we were dead in our sins.
We know of people who adopt children with special needs, but we have never heard of anyone adopting someone who is dead. Don’t think for a moment that that is not a blessing! We could find many other spiritual blessings in the text, but space does not permit it.
From Blessing to Thanksgiving
Thanksgivings will pour out of the windows; laughter will spill through the doors. Things will get better and better. Depression days are over. They’ll thrive, they’ll flourish. The days of contempt will be over. Jeremiah 30:19 (MSG)
We cannot always perceive what is going on behind the scenes. Our physical senses observe war and destruction, death and decay. Many societal institutions are crumbling before our eyes. We may even be longing for the “good old days.” Things we would usually count on as blessings are nowhere to be found. How can we even count our blessings in times like this?
Even without material blessings, we are grateful and filled with thanksgiving. We do not give thanks for the things we can see in the things we can hold in our hands, but we give thanks because God is faithful.
Do not surrender to feelings of despair or hopelessness. God is still on his throne. The promises of God are reliable because God is faithful. Some may think our best days are behind us, but I believe the most significant revival is still to come. We serve a God who loves us, who chose us, and who adopted us into his family. Do we need any other reason for Thanksgiving?
Steve Ekeroth