“Count your Blessings!” “Hug your Blessings!” “Be a Blessing unto Others!”
Each an expression most of us know well. It was made famous by a great old hymn you may not be familiar with if you’re younger. This inspiring hymn of thankfulness to God makes for a truly wonderful meditation for your private devotions or to share in a time of quiet prayer, reflection with a small group,
Do you want God to bless you today? Are you in the mood to be blessed? Do you want to be blessed? Do you genuinely “feel like” being blessed today? Christians obtain blessings by living like Christ. But who wants to live their life like Jesus? “Blessed to be a Blessing?” What is that supposed to mean when all is not well?
I mean, I would never turn away the opportunity to experience feel the comfort of another human being who wants to turn all of my frowns into widest smiles. But, to sort out abundant uncountable blessings from the uncountable curses, to count, to give any number, unto the uncountable blessings promised of God?
I simply do not know, perhaps I do not want to know, how high that number truly is.
Proverbs 28:18-22 NASB
18 One who walks blamelessly will receive help,
But one who is [a]crooked will fall all at once.
19 One who works his land will have plenty of food,
But one who follows empty pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
20 A faithful person will abound with blessings,
But one who hurries to be rich will not go unpunished.
21 To [b]show partiality is not good,
Because for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.
22 A person with an evil eye hurries after wealth
And does not know that poverty will come upon him.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Although quite precious, abounding faithfulness to God is a rare virtue today.
The Bible has many references to it. But Proverbs 28:20, in particular, says that faithfulness is the key to our abounding in our God’s uncountable blessings.
First, there are two types of blessings in general.
The first kind is known as the common blessings such as rain, sunlight, etc. One does not have to be a faithful child of God to the abundance of receive these.
The second kind is known as the unique blessings which include both spiritual and material riches but available only to God’s children.
In today’s devotional, we are going to look at the story behind the writing of the famous Hymn – “Count Your Blessings” written by Johnson Oatman, Jr. (1897)
The Story Behind Count Your Blessings
Johnson Oatman, Jr. grew up in New Jersey in the middle of the 19th Century singing hymns with his father. His life is a testimony to the legacy left by a loving Father who sings praise to God with his children!
Johnson grew up to become a bi-vocational Methodist minister and he wrote over 5,000 hymns, including Count Your Blessings in 1897. Count Your Blessings is considered his finest hymn and for over one century it has been one of our most loved hymns. It’s a song of thankfulness to God that is sung by English speaking people around the world on Thanksgiving Day and all year long.
One writer said about Count Your Blessings, “It is like a beam of sunlight that has brightened up the dark places of the earth.” Early on it was especially popular in Great Britain, where it was said, “The men sing it, the boys whistle it, and the women rock their babies to sleep on this hymn.” During the revival in Wales, it was one of the most favored of hymns sung at every service.
The Meaning Behind Count Your Blessings
The wonderful encouragement to “Count your blessings” is often misused.
It does not mean to deny that you’re having problems.
It does not mean to ignore your troubling emotions. It does not mean, “Cheer up and act like everything is fine.” That does not work and never will work!
It certainly does not lead to lasting joy and peace. The hymn is actually encouraging us to acknowledge openly that we are “tempest-tossed” or “burdened with a load of care” and bring our concerns unto God in prayer.
When we go to God with our troubles, we can begin to see that we do not need to be discouraged because “God is over all.”
In other words, we bring ourselves and our circumstances to Christ in the Kingdom of the Heavens, which he said is right “at hand” (Matthew 4:17). In the spiritual reality of God’s Kingdom is “wealth untold,” a “reward in heaven” and a “home on high,” “Help and comfort” now and “to [our] journey’s end.”
To count all of our blessings is to appreciate, one-by-one, that we have “every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). And genuine thanks and praise to God goes with openly unburdening ourselves before the listening ears of the “Father of compassion” and “God of all comfort,” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
Meditate on Count Your Blessings
In the name of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I invite each of you readers to join me by prayerfully reading the lyrics to this great hymn, letting God use it to work within, help you count your blessings today. Ask God to make this sweet song become a beam of sunlight to brighten up any dark places in your life and inspire you to shine the light of Christ more brightly in your circle of influence.
Count Your Blessings
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.
Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.
When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings—money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
Quiet Prayer and Reflection
How has God blessed you?
What has he done in your life?
As the hymn teaches, do not just look to God’s physical blessings, but also to his spiritual blessings, which are eternal and are in the heavenly realms for us to drawn on today and ever more so into eternity.
As you quiet yourself in the presence of the Lord (Psalm 46:10-11) “count your blessings” one by one. You will find that “it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” (Indeed, experiencing a sense of surprise is one of the distinguishing marks that God has spoken to your heart or acted in your life in a special way.)
You may want to then write a prayer of thanks and praise to God. Then it’d be read, wonderful to share with your group or a friend how God has blessed you.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Savior Jesus Christ, I thank you that, on the basis of your merit, I have inherited a full, abundant and eternal life. Awaken confidence in me that I may receive all the blessings that you have prepared for me. In union with you, I ask for special favor today. If it be your will, grant my request and fix my eyes upon you that I may honor and glorify your name. In your blessed and glorious name, Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 