Denied Blessings

This morning my Bible reading was in 1 Chronicles 25 & 26 and in both of these chapters it speaks of the blessing of the Lord. Do you know what the blessing was? CHILDREN! The first was a promise to Heman to exalt him. How did God do this? By giving him 14 boys and 3 girls! The second was a man named Obed-edem; he had 8 sons and this was God's blessing! God used children to bless these men. But not only were they a blessing to their parents, they also became blessings to the nation of Israel because God used them in the temple to lead the people in praise and worship. AND they were recorded in the Scriptures as being a blessing to their parents and being used in God's temple! How much more can a parent ask for?

My question for us in North America, is: have we denied ourselves blessing because we "decide" how many children we will have? My husband and I have 3 children and each one is a blessing. But we decided not to have any more because my emotions during my pregnancy scared me and I was fearful of what I might do. I didn't trust God. I let my own fears dictate my future, our family's future and even the future of this world. What have I denied the world of by being selfish and not trusting God? What blessings have I denied myself of for a lack of faith?

Our reasons can be different, but the source is always the same: we don't trust God to do what He says He will. Children are a blessing and He needs to be the One Who decides how many we will have. I have a dear friend who wanted children desperately. And for a number of years she and her husband tried. There was no physical reason why they shouldn't have children. One day, out of the blue, she became pregnant! I remember she told me one of her co-worker who asked her how it happened. She said she was kind of embarrassed but had to answer, "The regular way." It was awkward for her and yet kind of funny at the same time. She has 2 beautiful daughters, one who is graduating from high school shortly, and that is all the Lord gave her.

We also have some very dear friends who have 9 daughters! These are some of the sweetest most charming young ladies I have ever met. Yet these parents have also faced sorrow within the past few years they have had 2 miscarriages. Should they have stopped? Some would definitely say, "Yes - A LONG TIME AGO!" But they have chosen to trust the Lord and let Him lead in this area. They are truly blessed and yes each one of those girls is a blessing! And God has carried them through the hard time of the loss of not seeing those 2 little ones on this earth. But they know they will see them again soon before the throne of God where they will not have to have dealt with this sinful world.

He knows what we can and cannot handle BUT He allows us to choose if we are going to trust Him or not, whether it be for our emotions or our finances or whatever. The choice is ours. May we stop being selfish and allow God to do the good work He wants to do for us. May the parents of North America wake up and see that children are a blessing and not a burden.