Storeroom

Not quite the picture you would expect as an encouraging word for the New Year. I was reading this morning in 2 Chronicles 30:2-21 and it is all about Hezekiah and his contributions for worship. He assigned the priests and Levites to minister, give thanks, sing praises and offer the first fruits of livestock and crop. There was so much abundance he then ordered for storerooms to be built and filled with the "heaps" to be saved and distributed to the people of Israel. He gave everyone jobs, hope, responsibilities, encouragement and purpose to manage and participate in the Lord's dwelling place.....the temple. v. 20-21 says," ...he was doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God's temple and in obedieince to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered."
This made me think about my own life as we often do this time of year. Am I doing what is good, right and faithful before the Lord every day? Do I take my day to Him and offer it to Him as a gift? In every project that I undertake am I giving it to God first? Have I faithfully been seeking God and worked wholeheartedly in unison with Him therefore allowing Him access to work through me? This promise clearly gives me guidelines, clearly marks the way and obviously was what I needed to read as I start this new year. How often do I only seek God in crisis? How often do I not turn over the little issues before they become big ones? Who am I faithfully seeking and working whole heartedly for? This verse is exactly what I needed to read. We can never underestimate God's orchestration of timing. It's always perfect. Trusting God with our lives is one of the most important steps in our Christian walk. We are always wanting to go so fast, to run to the next phase, to leap over the obstacles and to be a part of this fast food generation. Instead, He may be wanting to walk us through these things in our lives in order to fill up our storerooms, so that we can use these experiences to bless others. "Every good and perfect gift comes from God" James 1:17
What are we filling up our storerooms with? Are we filling them up in order to help ourselves or others? Our gifts are not for ourselves, but for Him to share with others. Since my father's passing on Thanksgiving Day we have had to get two more storerooms to put furniture from his house I am saving for my kids. I have had storeroom on the brain so it got me thinking about my personal inventory, my storeroom and all that God has blessed me with not only this past year, but every day. There is that old saying, count your blessings. Well am I? Do I just go about my busy day taking for granted the breath of life? He wants to be in the little blessings as well as the big ones. He wants to walk us through the little issues in our life as well as the big decisions. When disaster hits like in this picture, do we give from our reserve only then, or are we giving every day allowing room for more gifts? Like Hezekiah this new year my goal is to seek God in everything and work wholeheartedly where everything has become fresh and new. The past is finished and gone. I pray my motivation will be pure at heart and not for the sake of His promise to prosper. I should solely seek in order to please God and the rest be left up to Him. He is for us and not against us. He knows the plans He has for us. I am filling my storeroom with every good and perfect gift from Him this year. Is there room in yours for this? I hope so, in heaps.
Happy New Year as God's grace and favor fills, covers and blesses you abundantly in 2010.