​The Blessing

Crowded stores, empty shelves, and long lines greeted my husband today as he attempted to stock up our house.
“It’s so surreal.” He shook his head as he put away the few items he'd managed to procure. “I can’t believe it.”

My heart sank. With paranoia nipping at my heels, I wondered how careful we indeed needed to be. A friend had just informed me that it had been recommended that all clothes should be stripped off the body and immediately washed after venturing outside, followed by a thorough shower for the person. Suggestions to wash all canned goods and leave plastic shopping bags outside the home also rang in my ears. Moreover, the unprecedented combination of cancelled schools, children at home, job layoffs, businesses closing, and church cancellations were enough to rattle my bones. ...

“This is just crazy,” I told my neighbor. We stood at her back gate, me still in my PJs and she balancing the chocolate ice cream and bananas I had just delivered. A Lysol wipe met my fingers as I reached for my front door. It lay balanced on the doorknob where I had left it moments before.

What is this world getting too? My thoughts fretted and worried as I wiped off the metal in hopes of killing unwanted germs.

Sweet Pea met me at the front door. “Daddy put his clothes in the washing machine and he’s getting a shower!” she reported with a skip and a bounce. “Will you play with me?”

Water pummeled the master bathroom walls in evidence to her words. Once more anxiety threatened to smother me. But my daughter’s joy and her oblivion to the crashing crisis around us crumbled down my wall of worry. Like popping bubbles of oxygen in a carbon monoxide world, her sweet innocence and unfettered joy released my lungs and restored my breath.
 
“Of course!” I smiled down at the rapidly growing girl in front of me. “Let’s go!”

Half an hour later, after one birthday party, 12 Playdough cupcakes, and one extremely happy little girl, my husband finally emerged. He held his cell phone in his hand with music streaming. A look like none other seen before on his face splayed across his features. Worry lines were softened and peace reflected in his eyes. Even the space around him was different. Quiet … reverent … worshipful.
     
“What is it?” my tones gentled. “What is it?” A hard, smooth rectangular case was placed into my hands. His cell phone.

“The Blessing,” he replied simply. Uncertain to his meaning, I quirked an eyebrow. But soon, the song streaming on his phone brought illumination to his words.

Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes' voices caught my attention. The power of their words and the strength of the music stopped me in my tracks. I was captivated. I was captured. I was prostrate on the floor.

A blessing of old sung like never before unfolded in peaceful but powerful layers. Scripture proclaimed itself through song and was made alive through the Holy Spirit. It washed and covered. It comforted and assured. It surrounded me with peace and renewed me with fire.

Favor, blessing, and promise proclaimed themselves through the verses, enveloping me with peace like none other I’ve known. Peace like a river, peace that passes all understanding, peace straight from the hand of God.

*“He is for you, He is for you, He is for you,” they declared, “He is with you.” Again and again they sang over me their blessing. Amens washed over me and soaked my spirit deep, steeping deep into my soul.

*“May His favor be upon you and a thousand generations and your families and your children and their children…”

Deep called out to deep. The Spirit of God filled and fell upon me. And I found myself praying these very words as my own. 
     
*“May His Presence go before you, behind you, beside you, all around you, and within you. He is with you. He is with you.”
     
During these unprecedented times, we need to be reminded of these unfaltering truths as we find ourselves surrounded by uncertainty and the unknown. We need this precious reminder that God is with us, that He is beside us, before us, behind us, and within us. We need to hear that He is for us and He is not against us. We need to not just believe these promises but proclaim them with all our might. In the face of fear and anxiety, we need to shout from the rooftops. 
     
It is also amidst these uncertain times that we likewise need to pray blessing, favor, and anointing over our nation, our families, our children, and over the generations to come. The Word of God holds power and promise for His people and in troubled times, we need to lay claim to His blessing. For nothing comforts, gives hope, or brings peace like the Word of God itself, the blessing of the Lord, the knowledge that He is with us, and the promises of the Great I Am. 
     
​As you listen to the link to the song below, The Blessing, allow God’s Word to flow over you and speak to your heart. Let it minister peace and comfort to your Spirit. Let it proclaim over you a blessing. Join me tonight in closing your eyes and declaring God’s promises, God’s blessing, and God’s favor. Lift up your hands, oh you people of the Lord, and worship the Lord, Your God.

​A Prayer of Blessing

“The Lord bless You and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26).

​*song lyrics from The Blessing by Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes: