A singer I'm not too familiar with named Seph Schlueter has a song called, "Counting My Blessings" on his album titled, "I, II, III, Infinity." The song (obviously) is about counting blessings, but at one point he sings, "I will keep counting my blessings knowing I can't count that high" and "One, two, three, up to infinity." Now, if you're just going along with the emotion, you'll be warmed, but if you're rational, you might ask, "Really? Infinity?"
All believers should make a practice of "counting my blessings," of being aware and grateful for all that God does for us. And we should be aware that it's a lot. But we have this one, particular shortfall. We classify "blessings" those things that are pleasant -- things we consider gain -- as opposed to the rest of our experiences of loss or the unpleasant. So we count that new job as a blessing and the loss of a job as not. We feel blessed that God kept a child safe from a trauma and not blessed if the child went through that trauma. We see positives as blessings and negatives as bad. Dare I say, "curses"? Well, no, probably not, although "curses" are the opposite of "blessings." So, if we're counting our blessings, we'd have to say they are definitely not infinite even if we might hold that there are a lot.
All this, of course, doesn't work out biblically, does it? Scripture says that all the "negatives" of life are "positives" to the believer. We don't guess ... we know that God works all things together for good to those who love God (Rom 8:28). We read that we should "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials" (James 1:2-4) specifically because they are perfecting us -- a blessing. Because trials improve us, we can "rejoice in our sufferings" (Rom 5:3-5), not merely endure them. Malachi speaks of God as "a refiner's fire" (Mal 3:2-3) whereby God burns off the dross and purifies the gold and silver. I would think that if gold or silver were sentient, they might appreciate the fire that makes them pure. When Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego went into the fire for their faith, all that burned was the ropes that bound them (Dan 3:1-30). We, too, should be counting as blessings the unpleasant, the "losses," the pains and trials that we have been given -- gifted -- and thanking God for His refining work in bringing us to a better reflection of His Son. If we did, we'd have to list a lot more blessings to count, wouldn't we?
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Postscript: I know it may have looked like I was correcting the songwriter for his words. I was not. Perhaps "infinity" is hyperbole or maybe there is a sense in which our blessings are infinite (although, being finite ourselves, I'm not sure how), but I was not arguing that Seph was wrong. I really like that "I will keep counting my blessings knowing I can't count that high" line. I really like his urging us to count our blessings and recognize them more. I wasn't suggesting he was wrong. I was suggesting that we often get shortsighted about what blessings we do have, and that I am absolutely certain that we are not counting all the blessings we really do have. I'm pretty sure we can't count all our blessings because of our finite understanding and finite knowledge, but I hope we give it our best effort because there are far more than we realize at first look.
7 comments:
First, I'm not defending the lyrics for any personal bias, never heard it before and have no feelings about it one way or another. However, I see three things about the "infinite blessings". 1, it would be perfectly acceptable to see this as hyperbole. As you point out, we often fail to see hardship as blessing, so calling our blessings infinite would be a way of correcting our thinking about what we consider to be blessing. 2, as believers our blessing are not quite infinite by definition, but they are eternal, in that we get to enjoy eternity before the face of God, a blessing that will last forever. By our muddled understanding of English, in this case, infinite and eternal are synonyms. 3, our blessings are infinite in that we will never be able to stop counting them. God's ability to bless us is not finite. I seem to recall another song that says something about His blessings being "never ending". There are probably a couple other words he could have used in place of infinity, eternal and everlasting spring to mind, but not knowing the song, I'm not sure how they'd fit musically.
Good point on reminding us that even hardship is blessing for the believer. We need these reminders because we are prone to forgetting that all things work together for our good.
Naturally, people living only for this world are quick to evaluate happenings in their lives as “good” or “bad,” based on the big picture of how they want things to go (i.e. happily and successfully). However, those of us who have all eternity in mind instead will recognize that God is doing a bigger work in us--one that goes beyond making our “here and now” smooth and carefree. Then, the definitions of “blessings” and “curses” take on different perspectives--since they accomplish God’s goals for us, rather than our own.
At age 68, I have had many opportunities in my life to date to consider the “blessings” vs. “losses” balance--and how I will view these events in light of God’s goals for me and my trust in Him. A very applicable “test” occurred for me just last weekend, when I discovered almost by chance that my decision about when to begin collecting my Social Security benefits proved to be a poor one financially; I learned I forfeited over $50,000 in benefits due me. In my limited knowledge, I thought I was making a good choice, when in retrospect I was not. Although upset about my mistake, I have determined that “it’s only money,” and I know that God’s provisions are sufficient. Instead of dwelling on any “loss,” I am watching for God to use this blunder--like all my other failings--for His glory and my good.
David, before you commented I was thinking, "You know, I'm afraid that people will think I was taking away from the song and I wasn't. Perhaps I should make a note of that in the post." But I didn't get around to it. Your comment, then, confirmed my fears, so I added a postscript to clarify.
Lorna, counting a $50,000 loss as a blessing because God is faithful and He works all things together for good is the kind of "counting our blessings" I had in mind. Counting what looks like large problems or mistakes as God's faithful hand is what gives us the capacity to rejoice in all circumstances and glorify God in everything.
I agree with David on his points about the infinite nature of blessings. I'd say that our blessings are functionally infinite and eternal in that we cannot count them all. I'm willing to chalk it up to poetic license and not worry too much about it.
The larger point regarding what blessings actually are is the more important. I haven't listened to the song in it's entirety or read the lyrics, but I'm not sure that the song demands that blessings=pleasant. You're correct that scripture is clear that things we find unpleasant are blessings. Sometimes we see that in hindsight.
That's why I added my second paragraph. I understood that your point wasn't to denigrate the song, but to remind us to realize how few things we actually count as blessings. But I am very keen on words and how they're used, so that's where my mind first went. Sorry if you thought I misunderstood your point.
God is faithful and He is good--all the time! I can testify that, although I am sore all over from “kicking myself” ;) my joy in the Lord has not wavered one bit in this experience (which is why I could comment last Monday that God can “make lemonade from lemons” like no one else). I am considering this as yet another “God saw fit” instance in my life--and also an opportunity to confirm where my treasure is (so there’s a blessing right there).
By the way, Stan, I didn’t see an issue with your treatment of the song’s lyrics at all (I generally view song lyrics as mostly “food for thought” anyway), but your clarification was helpful. Our blessings certainly are eternal and an aspect of the “bigger picture” that Christians focus on (as opposed to this earthly life only), and they number far more than we can know in this life--mostly because of the point of your post, i.e. with our limited perspective, we don’t always judge “blessings” and “losses” correctly.
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