Speaking Blessings instead of curses

I really was not sure what to name this one.  I just know I have always had a hard time understanding why we are to speak blessings over someone that hurts us or is horribly inconsiderate like the guy that cuts you off in traffic.  Why in the world would we pray for God to bless them when they are so thoughtless and need to come to their senses and change their behavior?

The verse Romans 2:4 came to mind about how the goodness of God leads us to repentance.  I don't know about you but somehow I always read that to say in essence that God loving us is what brings us to salvation.  That is not what it says though, is it.   It really does apply to this situation.

We want this thoughtless inconsiderate person to change their behavior before we pray blessings over them. It is our nature to feel this way.  I am finding it is not God's nature to feel this way though.  Basically we want their repentance to lead to the goodness of God and yet His word says it just the opposite.  If I truly want them to change their behavior (or repent) what does God's word say leads them to that according to this verse?  The goodness of God is the answer.

Be patient Lord, I am learning!  I will pray blessings on those people and pray that you are so good to them that it changes them like your love has changed me.  Thank you Lord for giving me insight once again about a portion of your word that I did not understand.  Your ways are so much higher than mine and you prove it so very often!

The Desert

The Bible has so many references to the desert with so many meanings that it shares.  I actually live in a desert so those parts of the bible say a lot to me because I can relate to them in so many different ways.  I see God in the desert each day, in what is created there and the wildlife that share that desert.  I also can relate in my heart to the desert, to those times where it seems God has stepped out and you do not feel His presence so strongly.  The other night when I was texting with my daughter who is experiencing some really hard times she told me she was feeling Psalm 113 clear to her toes lately.  I assured her I had been there and we had a very nice "talk" which I believe she took to heart.

Those desert times when you feel Psalm 113 clear to your toes have proven to be very special times in my life as I look back.  Times I dug deeper than ever, totally immersed myself in Him and His word so as not to feel alone.  I believe we grow very deep roots during this time of digging deep, we search out the living water of the Holy Spirit to refresh us.  Those deep roots build our faith so very much and give us strength to withstand storms in life.  I have found that after being in the desert I can dance in the rain of the storms knowing He is there so deeply that I celebrate Him.

I see in my reading the Bible that there are so many known for their great faith and it seems they were always taken to the desert in one way or another.  Sometimes that desert time feels as if it is failure and we are not sure how or when we will come back out of it.  If we lean on Him, dig deeper for what we can learn we find we come out of the desert so very much stronger than we went in but it is not our strength but His that carries us, self has been stripped away and we rejoice in His strength instead of our own.  I think I could write forever about the desert and what I have learned in the physical desert and that spiritual desert as well.  I am so very thankful for my desert experiences.  I know so very deeply it is all Him and about Him.  I do so love Him so!