Benefits

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation." Psalm 68:19

A pastor friend of ours came to our church to preach for Tim on a few Sunday nights in March, 2010. He began to come when Tim started his new chemo drug and just needed some help getting through Sundays. The new chemo caused extreme fatigue. This friend preached a message that has stuck with me and has been a tremendous help to me.

Psalm 68:19 tells us that the Lord daily loads us with benefits. Now in my mind, a benefit is something that is GOOD - something that I enjoy. However, the true meaning of the word benefit in this verse is not necessarily something that I will enjoy; it is something that will benefit me...that may be good or it may be hard or painful. Getting a cavity filled may be painful, but it is beneficial to me. Cleaning a wound may be painful for me, but it is beneficial to my health. Going through trials in our lives may be painful, but the outcome is beneficial for me. I need to look at the hard times as beneficial to me. They are meant to strengthen me, increase my faith, and take me to a higher place in my walk with the Lord.

The verse also says that He LOADS us with benefits. Sometimes these benefits are pleasurable and sometimes these "benefits" are hard and heavy to bear. But in the end, they all are benefits and they come frequently throughout my day. These truths have spoken to me and help me to look at the difficult days in a different light.

Dear Lord, my heart's desire is to please You, so I thank you for daily loading me with benefits! Whether humanly they are perceived as "good" or "bad," help me to receive these benefits with thanksgiving, knowing they are all for my good. Please work these truths into my heart.