Holy & Blessed

Your Greatest Blessing

6.15.25 [Numbers 6:22-27] River of Life (Trinity Sunday)

2 Th. 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. Amen.

Has anyone ever said to you: Count your blessings? Probably, right? 

It’s meant to be a morale-booster. Part encouragement. Part word of warning. Usually voiced by someone older, wiser, and more experienced. Maybe they’ve been listening to us complain too much. Maybe they’ve seen us grow a little too complacent. Perhaps they think we’ve grown a bit smug or unkind in the way we view those who are struggling through life. Count your blessings is a good thought. A great exercise. But it’s an impossible task. 

Because inevitably, you’re going to miss something. Our lives are so full of blessings that we know we cannot enumerate them all. If you were given the assignment to count all your blessings, who among us would set down our pencils and shout Done! with any degree of confidence? 

Not only that, but there are things we don’t immediately think of as blessings in the moment—that we will one day come to see as a blessing. Since it’s Father's Day, I can think of a few blessings that it’s easy for us dads to overlook. It’s easy to overlook what a blessing it is to have a house that feels too small for your family. It’s easy to overlook what a blessing it is to have a garage so full of stuff you can’t find anything. It’s easy to overlook what a blessing it is to feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day. It’s easy to overlook what a blessing it is to have kids who are asking you a million and one questions. It’s easy to overlook what a blessing it is to be the spiritual head of your house. 

We all know that we all overlook blessings. And yet the blessings continue to be poured out into our lives. Faster and more numerous than we can count or appreciate. For that reason alone, it’s good for us to take some time today and slow down and recognize our blessings—even if we can’t count them. To sit back and savor the fact and the reason that each of us can say: I am so blessed. 

Today’s Numbers reading invites us to do that. The words are as familiar as any in the Old Testament. Num. 6:24-26 The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. 

How long would you have had to count your blessings before these things made an appearance on your list? 

Of course, when you count your blessings you’re not ranking them. Just because one blessing comes to mind first doesn’t mean that you think it is more important or meaningful than anything that comes to mind later. But it still probably says something that material things, relationships, experiences, vocational success and respect, economic security, and our health and the health of those we love all come to mind before the Lord’s face shining on us. 

It definitely says something about us that when some of those treasured blessings change or disappear or no longer charm us the way they once did, we start to question whether we’re blessed or not. 

Our possessions are great blessings from above. But so often, we’ve ranked them wrong. A beautiful home, a great vehicle, clothes that make you look great, electronics that make you seem organized or intelligent or successful, toys big and small that put a smile on your face are great blessings from the Lord. But they are not your greatest blessing. They are not the most important gift your God has given you. And I know you know that intellectually. Or at least you know enough to say that you know that. But what happens when those things break, or decline in value, or fall out of style, or cause more headaches than smiles? Do you still think of yourself as blessed? Do you still feel like the Lord’s face is shining on you? Are you at peace? 

And it’s not just stuff, either. It’s relationships. It’s experiences. It’s achieving your dreams. It’s being set for the future. It’s your health. 

Do you recognize that those things—as wonderful as they may be—pale in comparison to your greatest blessing? Do you recognize that those blessings are temporary and are not designed to stay the same? 

Maybe God blessed you with a handsome young prince of a man who swept you off your feet. Or a beautiful bride. Are you still as grateful today when his feet are propped up on your coffee table and not smelling so great? Are you still as grateful today now that her beauty has faded? In ugly moments, we catch ourselves thinking and talking in ways that don’t seem like we think we’re blessed. 

At times, we find ourselves longing for bygone blessings and overlooking our greatest blessing. A happy young family grows up. The kids leave the nest and don’t drop in much anymore. Maybe you spent years traveling, and now it hurts to get up out of your chair. 

Perhaps you once commanded the room, and now you can’t even find the word you’re looking for. Maybe you always ate right and treated your body as your temple, but nowadays you never feel right. Maybe you enjoyed a mostly blissful marriage of many decades, but now your spouse has been taken from you. 

In those moments, do you declare with Job: Job 1:21 The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord?

That’s the great mess we make for ourselves when we rank our blessings all wrong. We overlook the greatest blessing we have been given and we fight for things that can’t replace it. 

That’s what Jacob did throughout his life. Jacob so badly wanted to be blessed that he took advantage of his brother Esau. When his brother came back from an unsuccessful h unting trip, Jacob manipulated his hungry brother into trading his birthright blessing for a bowl of stew. Jacob so badly wanted to be blessed that he tried to trick his blind father into giving him the blessing that Isaac wanted to give to Esau. Jacob so badly wanted to be blessed with a beautiful wife that he didn’t even double-check to make sure he had the right bride on his wedding day. Jacob so badly wanted to be blessed with wealth that he found himself constantly squabbling with his conniving uncle Laban. Jacob so badly wanted to be blessed with a son from his favorite wife that he overlooked all the sons the Lord had already given to him. The more Jacob fought for blessings, the more of a mess he made of his life. 

Jacob overlooked his greatest blessing, as we so often do. The Lord blessed him and kept him. The Lord’s face shone upon Jacob and he was gracious to him, even though he didn’t deserve it. The Lord turned his face toward Jacob and blessed him with a peaceful reunion with his brother, Esau, and a peaceful death in Egypt where he was reunited with his long-lost son, Joseph. Jacob didn’t fight for these blessings and secure them for himself. God gave it to him before he was even born. And then repeated it when Jacob’s hip was so wrenched he couldn’t walk the way he was used to. 

The story of Jacob and the experience of our lives tells us that we cannot fight for blessings. God must give them. And he does. That’s the beauty of this section of Scripture. Each phrase begins with a singular subject—The Lord. It all originates from him. It all rests on his mercy, his goodness, his grace, and his faithfulness. And he is merciful. He is gracious. The Lord is good and the Lord is faithful. 

So he blesses you. He blesses you with good things—now and for eternity. The Lord keeps you safe. He does not prohibit you from going astray or making a mess of things, but think about all the troubles he’s spared you from. Think about all the times you ran your mouth and should’ve run into trouble. Think about all the times you overestimated your skills and your abilities and underestimated the threats and risks. The Lord kept you safe. He commands his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways—not just when you’re making good choices. The Lord has kept you from wandering away from the faith and piercing yourself with many griefs. The Lord has kept you as his own. 

Not only that, but the Lord has made his face shine on you. You have seen his face, the exact representation of the divine being, in his Son, Jesus. You have learned to know him as being full of grace and truth. The Son of God stepped into the mess we made of this world and our lives and he redeemed us and restored us. He was merciful and gracious. He willingly took our place as God’s righteous wrath rained down on the cross. Jesus was cursed and died on the cross so that we might be blessed and live in heaven. The Father turned his face away from his suffering Son so that he might turn his face toward us and give us peace. Because God’s own Son was faithful, we are blessed. Because God’s own Spirit is powerful, we have received the name that changes everything. We are God’s own children and we dwell in the presence of the Lord. 

The Lord Almighty is near us and loves us and he is blessing us and keeping us. The Lord Almighty is near us and loves us and he beams with pride at our good deeds. The Lord Almighty is near us and loves us and he gives us good things we do not deserve because he is gracious. The Lord Almighty is near us and loves us and he will never leave us or forsake us. The Lord Almighty is near us, and loves us so nothing can threaten us or rob us of peace. 

This is our greatest blessing and the source of all the other blessings we cannot count. The Lord is near. The Lord is good. The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. That’s a blessing we can count on, now and forever. Amen.