Looking in the Right Places

Recently, the words of this song intrigued my thoughts:

"Blessings" BY LAURA STORY

"We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,
It's not our home

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise"

As the days shorten, I long for the days of spring. The trees appear melancholy with their bare limbs of winter.In wisdom and power, You created the cycles of life. Your Spirit and Word guide us and teach us that You are always with us. Never, never will You leave us, but my feeble heart needs reminding.

Thank You, for the reassurance of Your goodness and Your presence, especially that lonely winter morning.

Often times when I’m alone, You are close and my mind is stayed on You.

But that day, You seemed far away. Sadness engulfed my heart.

Tenderly I was reminded of Your love;

a graceful red bird landed in the “naked” tree outside the window.

Your love washed over me like a fountain. You are with me, blessing me in

the lonely, “winter” days of life. You know each concern of the heart.

You desire faith in You alone.

Would the red bird have caught my eye in the fullness of spring,

possibly hidden beneath the foliage I dearly crave? How often do Your

blessings flow through the things we dread or fear?

Forgive me Father, for the short-sightedness of my heart’s longings. Shape my heart to be more like Jesus-looking to the eternal and not to momentary comforts and joys in this world. Thank You for the seasons of our lives where You teach us faith lessons over and over again.

Mischelle Oliver

Stephenville, Texas