How do I limit God’s blessings?

Numbers 20:12The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”

When you don’t trust God to do what he has promised, you limit the blessings others receive through you, and you also limit the blessings he will give you.

2 Samuel 12:7-9“The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed?”

This dramatic passage captures the moment the prophet Nathan confronted King David, who was on a yearlong trajectory of escalating sin. Through Nathan, God not only spelled out David’s sins, but he also reminded the king of the blessings he had been given. God also informed David that his sin would reap painful consequences for him and his family. And though his sin deserved death, David’s confession called forth God’s mercy, a further blessing. We can apply this story to our lives by remembering that God’s blessings and consequences often run parallel to each other. Sin hampers our ability to experience God’s blessings, but confession and repentance bring the blessing of forgiveness.

James 1:14-15Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

We limit God’s blessings when we give in to temptation and willfully sin. If we recklessly pursue sin, it will drag us into a stream of increasingly destructive experiences.