Hit pause for a few....

May the Eternal prosper your family, growing both you and your descendants.  May the blessings of the Eternal, maker of heaven and earth, be on you. The heavens above belong to the Eternal, and yet earth in all of its beauty has been given to humanity by Him.  (Psalm 114:14-16 VOICE)

How would you say the One True God has prospered you over this past year?  It is now the last quarter of 2016 and families everywhere begin to prepare for all the Fall happenings ranging from Fall Festivals, Octoberfest Celebrations, Thanksgiving dinner gatherings, and Christmas family time.  Before we get into the rush of the season, we might just want to step back, pausing for just a few moments to really begin to evaluate how the hand of God has been displayed in our lives over this past year.  Many think "prosperity" is something we link to what we have in our checking, savings, and amassed in real estate holdings.  The truth of the matter is that prosperity comes in many forms we often don't fully appreciate until we are nearly "bankrupt" of those things!

Health is one of the easiest examples we can think of when we think of once "prospering" and suddenly being at the bottom of the heap. It doesn't take long for the flu to ravage our bodies, leaving us feeling miserable, achy, and coughing like an old hag. How did our "prosperity" of health change so quickly? It is likely that we didn't realize the moment we started to be "robbed" of our good health - that moment when the virus entered our bodies by whatever means it chose to use - but when the full force of the illness is wreaking havoc on our bodies, we know we have been put under siege!  Something wants our body and it has "taken over" what doesn't belong to it! Oftentimes the greatest "thief" of our prosperity isn't the thing we see or hear - it is the silent stuff we don't even realize is invading our space!

Webster defines prospering as getting lots of money - equating the making of money to being successful. The second definition they list is that of becoming very healthy, strong, or active. Neither of these do justice to what God means when he says desires us to prosper, though. The most likely way God sees prosperity in our lives is when we thrive regardless of the pressure we are placed under - because our source of strength is found in something other than ourselves. So what do we define as prosperity in our lives? Maybe it is the solidarity of strong relationships with each other - the strength we find in being able to count on another to be there for us. Perhaps it is the financial ability to give first, save second, and live on the rest - because we have jobs which allow us to do all three. Or maybe it is the newfound stability we find in our lives each time we call our for God's grace to set things right in us. We cannot scratch the surface of how we could define prosperity in our lives - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

If we don't take time to recall his blessings in and through us, we don't realize what we are being robbed of when a thief tries to steal these things away from us!  Just sayin!

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