Coram Deo

I apologize for how much time has passed since I last wrote. So much has happened in the past two weeks and I had intended to write a nice long update this weekend, but due to an unforeseen 17 hour power outage, I was unable to use my computer. I am thankful to have the power back, but my internet connection is too slow at the moment to upload any pictures, so that will have to wait until tomorrow. So, in the mean time, I will share a bit about what God has been teaching me recently about what it means to be blessed.

As a teacher, I have been well trained to being speaking with a good anticipatory set. So here if one for you!

Please take a moment to answer these questions to yourself:

In what ways has God blessed your life?
What does that word, blessing, mean for you?

Did you really think about an answer? I will have to trust that you did!

I use the word blessing a lot. Often when I pray for people I pray that God blesses their lives. I daily pray that God showers his blessings out on each precious orphan child. I pray that each of my friends and family members will experience the rich blessings of God daily in their lives. I pray that God will make me aware of the countless ways that he has blessed me. I even end most of my letters and blogs with the word “blessing”. So what does that word mean? In the past two weeks, God has been opening my eyes to a slightly deeper meaning of the word, a meaning that goes beyond a simple salutation or a quickly offered prayer for good things.

In my Bible study, I recently read: “Biblically, one is pronounced blessed when God is present and involved in his life. The hand of God is at work directing all his affairs for a divine purpose, and thus, in a sense, such a person lives coram Deo.”

I had never heard the term “coram Deo” before, so I did a bit of research on it and found that coram Deo literally means "before the face of God". It means that we are living in the presence of God, under the authority of God and to the honor and glory of God. It is what each person was designed for by our Creator!

I guess that I have tended to associate blessing with the good things that God has given me. Yet, being blessed by God means that he is present and involved in my life, even when things are not going as I had hoped or planned. I could be walking through a devastating loss, pushing through a seemingly endless struggle, or unable to understand why something had to happen the way that it did; but if I allow those things to strengthen my faith and my belief in the goodness of God, then He is able to use those things for His divine purpose, thus they are blessings.

So when times of trial arise, I pray that you will not lose hope or faith. I pray that you will believe that you are richly blessed, no matter what circumstance you find yourself in, because God is ALWAYS GOOD. When we believe that, we are being shaped into the people that God created us to be, and that is what blessing is all about!

There is my thought for the day. Now when I say, "I pray you are blessed", you will know that I mean, "I pray that the hand of God is at work, directing all of your affairs for a divine purpose. And that in the times when you can’t understand the purpose you will still believe that God is good!"

Before the Face of God,

Jessica