Unnecessary Blessings (Kelly Oeltjenbruns)

Courtesy of Pexels

Courtesy of Pexels

Wouldn’t it be fun?

Wouldn’t it be encouraging if you wrote her a poem?
Wouldn’t it bless them if you sent some cash, just because?
Wouldn’t it be fun to leave him a three-minute voicemail in a silly accent? 

These are Holy Spirit whispers I’ve heard in the past few weeks, holed up like many of my colleagues at a makeshift dining room table workstation. The work continues and the days gallop by for those of us fortunate enough to remain working, but for some of us they feature a little more margin. What is being asked of those of us who have been given this extra margin?

I tend to listen to the whispers a bit more when I have margin. And many of these seeming whispers from the last few weeks have keyed on ways in which to bless my friends, family, and strangers in unnecessary ways.

In recent years, one idea has revolutionized my view of the Lord: our God is happy. Not only happy, of course, but this happiness is something to remember. First Timothy 1:11 tells of “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God,” and our best word for “blessed” is “happy.” The happy God, who smiles lovingly upon his children. The happy Holy Spirit, who indwells and empowers God’s children. Joy is a central, foundational characteristic of the Trinity.

The happy God pursues us, gifting unnecessary blessings. He delights in us (Psalm 18:16-19, Zephaniah 3:17) and displays his love in part by pouring out gifts. Those gifts often include what we have earnestly prayed for and needed, but they also include unnecessary blessing: the, just-because, the I’m-thinking-of-you blessings. We see these often in the bible—the woman pouring an entire jar of perfume on Jesus’ feet, when a few drops of the sweet fragrance would have done. The wine that was better than the host’s at Cana. Frankly, most of Jesus’ miracles.

There is an obvious tension here: our happy God is also our deeply grieved God. He hates the illness, death, and havoc wreaked by the global pandemic that rages on, heartless. He aches for those who have lost jobs and face increasing financial pressure, for those whose weddings, graduations, retirements, and other life events have gone celebrated with texts and FaceTime appearances. He grieves the small things, too—he joins our sadness at missing our friends for Tuesday night trivia at Kingfisher. He aches, yes, but he also, mysteriously, remains blessed and happy. He remains the God who says “blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” He remains a God who points us toward the fullness of joy. He remains a God rooted in delight, a God who desires to bless us in insignificant ways.

While God enjoys lavishing these gifts on us, the Holy Spirit loves inspiring us to lavish unnecessary blessing on others. These are gifts or actions never sought or asked for. Little things, big things. And the Spirit loves partnering with us in their delivery. How the Spirit enjoys our ability to, with him, create and imagine new ways to make someone smile, feel loved, and know that they are delighted in. It’s this characteristic that sparks these “wouldn’t it be fun? Wouldn’t it be encouraging?” whispers.

Encouraging one another is particularly vital amidst strange and scary times. Luckily God is gracious and the exercise is often low-stakes: it can involve simply asking the Holy Spirit who is hurting, who needs a boost, who is alone in their apartment, who is trying to figure out short-term finances, or who is desperately attempting to focus on spreadsheets for work while three toddlers streak through their makeshift office. For me, one creative and unnecessary blessing meant recording a simple ukulele song for some friends in the medical field (now THAT is a happy instrument!). Others recently sent me short, encouraging birthday videos. And speaking from experience, if you are the beneficiary of unnecessary blessing, simply receive!

It is always the time to give these unnecessary blessings, but now is the time when I hear that whisper loudest and most insistently. And now is the time when I most notice these gifts given to me. I believe that we can shower unnecessary blessings in spite of crisis, to those hit hardest by crisis. Blessings that are creative or silly or serious or fun. That is the enduring heart of our happy God.

Kelly Oeltjenbruns is a former operations director for The Carver Project and a 2018 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.

 

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