PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

Expecting the Lord's Blessing

No matter how conscientious we are in caring for our children, how skillful in the application of basic spiritual practices, how loving in our overseeing of their human growth and development, we still must learn to rely most particularly on the Lord's blessing. When we have His blessing, while we may make many mistakes, the result will still be favorable; without His blessing, though we may not make any major mistakes, the outcome will be disappointing. The Lord's blessing is the essential ingredient for the carrying out of a sanctified family life.

In the following article, written by Watchman Nee, we are helped to realize how indispensable it is for us to experience the blessing of the Lord in all that we do. If we apply this principle to the rearing of our children, there will be a fundamental change in the way we raise them.

Brother Nee brings out a number of critical points in relation to our need of the Lord's blessing in whatever we do:

* "Methods, considerations, human wisdom, and clever words are all useless." We value the principles of proper care of children that we receive in the Lord's recovery and through other resources, but apart from the Lord's blessing even these principles are useless. The more we understand the dynamics of human development, the more we run the risk of ignoring the Lord and His blessing.

* "There are definite requirements for receiving the Lord's blessing. It does not come by accident or luck." This indicates that we must pay attention to the habits and practices that characterize our daily living and eliminate any item that restricts the Lord's blessing. One of the major hindrances cited is gauging our activities in terms of right and wrong rather than what secures His blessing.

* "Having faith...is believing and expecting God's blessing. In God's work, having faith means having the conviction that the result will not be in proportion to us." We are inclined to calculate the potential results of our labor based on our resources and our capacity. We must realize that God's blessing far exceeds our limited storehouse.

Of late a thought has been constantly with me that all the work is dependent on God's blessing. Often we are faithful, but despite our faithfulness there is no blessing and no fruit. Often we are diligent, but despite our diligence there is no blessing and no fruit. Often we exercise our faith; we truly believe God can do something. We also pray that He would work, but everything is in vain when God does not bless us. Sooner or later, we who serve God must be brought to the point of expecting God's blessing. Without God's blessing, our faithfulness, diligence, faith, and prayers will be to no avail. However, if we have God's blessing, there will be fruit even if we seem to be wrong or hopeless. Therefore, all problems are a matter of God's blessing.

Our Resources are Inadequate

I would like to bring out the matter of multiplying the five loaves (Mark 6:35-44; 8:1-9) with respect to God's blessing. It is not a matter of how many loaves we have in our hands, but whether or not God has blessed them. Even if we had more than five loaves, this would not be enough to feed four or five thousand people. Even if we had ten times or even one hundred times more, we still would not have enough to feed four or five thousand people. It is not a matter of how much we have. Sooner or later, we must be brought to the point of seeing that it is not a matter of what we can pull out of our storage shed, nor is it a matter of how great our gift is or how much power we have. The day must come in which we say to the Lord, "Everything depends on Your blessing."...

We must notice something in the Gospels. Why does the Lord do two miracles that are almost the same in nature and in action? I am afraid it is because this lesson is not easy to learn. Why does He feed the five thousand and then feed the four thousand? Two miracles of almost identical nature are repeated twice in the Gospels. We must learn this lesson, but it is not easy. Many people still do not look to God's blessing, but instead look at the few loaves in their own hands! The loaves in our hands are so pitifully few, but we still base our plans on them. The more we plan in this way, however, the harder the work becomes. Sometimes it becomes impossible. I am somewhat comforted by the words spoken by a brother one hundred years ago. He said, "When the Lord wants to work a small miracle, He puts me in a difficult situation. When He wants to work a great miracle, He puts me in an impossible situation." Our situation is difficult, and it even seems impossible. Many times it is really hard, and we are like the little boy with just a few loaves. We can only hope for a miracle, and this miracle is the Lord Himself taking them up and blessing them....

Many times we do not have the capacity to do something. The outward environment is difficult, even impossible. If our eyes are fixed on the circumstances, we will not have any way to deal with them. However, the Lord repeatedly brings us through. These times are the Lord's blessing. When we have blessing, everything goes well and nothing is difficult. Without the Lord's blessing, everything goes wrong and nothing is easy. The Lord wants to bring us to a point where His blessing takes the first place, a point where we have never been....

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