Granted

What do you take for granted?

There’s a magic box in my kitchen. I open it. The light comes on. I remove a can of my favorite soda and never think twice about how that magic box always seems to have precisely what I’m looking for. It must be magic. The drinks are always there. They never seem to run out. It’s a perpetual-motion machine of carbonated delight.

This past summer my wife went on a mission trip. For a week it was just me and three teenage boys. Oddly enough, the magic ran out of the magic box. I opened the door. No soda. Such weird timing that the magic ran out while my wife was away.

Perhaps there’s a connection.

For my wife and I, there’s so much about our habits together that are just automatic. We’re not the kind of family that divides up responsibilities based on certain expectations. Things need to be done around the house. We’re all responsible for making them happen. Yet, because we’ve been together a long time, we’ve gotten into a rhythm of the things we each lean into naturally. For such a long time, she’s been the one to fill the fridge. It’s something our family takes for granted.

My wife isn’t the only relationship I risk taking for granted. I’ve served the same church for over twenty years. I’ve seen God do miraculous things. I’ve seen individuals whose lives are rescued by God from drug addiction, families on the brink of divorce who discover the joy of faithfulness and experience a kind of love they never dreamed possible. I’ve seen the people of our church donate millions of dollars for the purpose of giving it away to people in need. I’ve prayed for years that God would allow me to be part of a church that creates an environment where people can experience the presence of God.

God has answered that prayer – and then some!

Every example I just gave represents the blessing of God. It’s funny to consider, but there’s a risk in His blessing; a risk that we’ll take His blessings for granted. Is it possible that God’s lavish riches have become so familiar, so automatic, that His blessings are simply the wallpaper, the baseline, background expectation of our lives?

I’ll confess to a personal struggle. With all these blessings, I want more.

I love His blessings. But I want more. I’m grateful for all He’s done, but I’m not satisfied with “enough”. In this, I risk holding His blessings cheap. I risk squandering the grace He’s given or becoming blasé about the goodness and greatness of our God. I risk becoming dissatisfied with “all this goodness.” Sounds crazy, or at least privileged, I know. It’s part of the pressure of blessing. I’m surrounded by people who are so familiar with God’s deepest kindness that when we hear about the miraculous it often feels like we shrug our shoulders and respond, “Of course God did that. It’s what He does.”

It’s not wrong to be confident in the goodness of God. I never want to be satisfied with my own frailties or failures either. I want to pursue the holiness God has called me to. In this endeavor, enough is never enough. At the same time, I don’t want to violate Romans 2:4, “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

Today, let’s find the balance. Let’s give to the Lord the glory due His name and bring an offering. Let’s worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (1 Chronicles 16:29). Let’s not let familiarity with the blessings of our God derail us from drinking deeply of His grace as we passionately express our gratitude for all He’s done. Let’s celebrate together and with others, all God has given, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over (Luke 6:38).

The box is not magic. I’m blessed with an amazing wife. I want her to hear that from me over and over again.

God’s blessings are not automatic. I’m blessed to serve an amazing God. May I never stop giving thanks and celebrating everything He lavished on us.