By REV. DR. BRIAN GIGEE
“COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS”
“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8
Johnson Oatman wrote over 5500 hymns. Whoah! In 1897 he penned… “Count Your Blessings” … it starts out like this…
“When upon
life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”
That doesn’t sound so hard, does it? After all, the year 2020 resembles nothing any of us anticipated. Flu season has arrived, the Rockets are sticking to “small ball” and there are two hurricanes bearing down on the Gulf coast as I type this sentence. And God still loves you!
And then there’s the song’s chorus…
“Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God has done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God has done.”
Ok, so let’s name some… surprising as they may be… calling them Covid-19 blessings!
- Self-awareness. Never before have we been so aware of our own bodies and our surroundings. A cough, sore throat, or a headache. Touching a doorknob or a light switch. Wondering at the grocery store, who else touched this apple and where was that person last night? We are eating healthier and the blessing is real!
- Families and friendships are stronger! As each day passes, stories of how families separated by miles are closer via family chats and scheduled on-line meetings. “I’m more involved in my grandchild’s life than ever before,” I heard a friend say recently. My friend is right!
- Discovering what’s absolutely essential! People have given up so much. Huge adjustments have been made. As we’ve re-set our clocks to spend our time, people have found out where quality of life abounds and what we really need…
- The church is NOT a building! Finally, or at least again, people of faith have realized we can practice our faith without the building. It may mean many places of worship won’t outlive the pandemic, but the people will. God’s love will. God’s purposefulness will. Will online teaching and preaching go viral? Far too long the church has said… “Come, worship with us… but only on Sunday at 8:00 am or 10:30 am.” Thanks be to God… God is doing something new!
- We are surrounded by heroes. They are all over. Name one. Give them a call. Buy them a coffee or a beer or a cheeseburger. Thank them for A+ work! Our safety is the product of their efforts!
St. Augustine of Hippo wrote centuries ago… “God is more ready to bestow blessings on us than we are ready to receive them.” It seems some things don’t change. Count your Covid-19 blessings… name them one by one… Faith matters as we all believe in something…
Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches in Texas and Louisiana over the last four decades. Follow his blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Your comments and/or questions are always welcomed to godworks247365@gmail.com.
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