He Comes to Make His Blessings Flow (from “Joy to the World”)

By Kristin Gergis Nisr
London, UK

Scripture Reading:
1 Peter 1:3-9
Romans 8:18-39

In the well-known Christmas hymn, “Joy to the World,” there’s a lovely little line: “He comes to make His blessings flow,” followed by a more sinister refrain stating, “far as the curse is found.” What is this curse?

Well, we know that nothing can happen outside of God’s will, so what do we make of it when bad things happen?  God’s ideal will is a world without sin, without turmoil, without violence, oppression, trauma, corruption, illness or any kind of pain. 

But at The Fall, the curse took hold (see Genesis 3). The curse pervaded everything. The curse caused hardship, strife, shame, imbalance in nature, thorns and thistles, illness, pain. Nature was perfect in The Garden but the curse corrupted the very nature of everything. 

But God had to allow it. Nothing happens outside His will--be it His ideal will or His allowed will. 

He allowed the curse to invade this earth because as we know, He lovingly gave us free will. The curse is found everywhere in every trial or hardship we face.

But so, as the song reminds us, the blessing can be found in every trial as well. This is not just positive thinking or looking for the silver lining. What I’ve come to understand through my various trials is that God and Satan are usually both working in our lives. One for destruction and one for blessing and glorious hope and joy if we let Him and if we look for it. 

Facing “the curse”

For me, it happened this way… 

One evening in late March this year, I was lying in bed when I discovered a hard lump on my left breast. As I pressed and prodded, investigating further, to my shock, I realised it was a mass the size of a golf ball. 

I was comforted when the doctors assured me I was lucky and that it was nothing serious. I attended my follow-up alone and unconcerned. When they informed me it was cancer, I ran to the bathroom to call my husband and we cried together over the phone from the toilet.   

They told me the whole breast would need to be removed due to the size of the lump. After many more tests and the recommended surgery, it was determined that far from lucky and unconcerning, it was stage 3 invasive lobular breast cancer that would require aggressive treatment so as not to progress to stage 4, terminal cancer. 

But to my surprise, besides shock, the most prominent feeling I had in the coming days and weeks was hope! I felt almost embarrassed by the feeling; so much that I sought counceling to understand what was “wrong” with me. 

A golden opportunity

But I’ve come to realise that deep down I think I knew this was a golden opportunity where God’s allowed will would make His blessings flow even amidst the curse of cancer. 

I had been going through a very rough patch for around three years, when my second daughter was born. She rarely slept. She has still only slept a handful of times through the night in her entire life. I was working full-time and taking care of two young kids while also being the main caregiver for my husband who has a spinal cord injury and uses a wheelchair. I was completely over my own capacity but couldn’t see a way out. I was also struggling with other areas of family and ministry that felt like boulders that would not budge. I was praying specifically for these areas and seeing no real change. My faith was honestly battered by lack of rest and so many unanswered prayers. I had doubted God at times and doubted prayer did much of anything. 

But I had decided in January of this year that whenever doubt would try to lie to me, I would double down on belief in the promises of the scriptures. Belief that God cared and that He is truly good and that His goodness would always prove true in my life. 

I tucked hope-filled scriptures firmly into my heart and held fast to them. In fact, when I review my quiet time journal from earlier this year, I can see that week after week I was passionately preaching to my soul to believe in the promise of greater things yet to come. 

One of those passages I etched onto my heart was Romans 15:13 that says, “...God, the source of hope will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him..”

Another was Isaiah 43:19, which says  “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Scriptures written on the heart

And lo and behold, with scriptures like these written on my heart, the Word proved fruitful! When I got the news, I indeed could not perceive it. Why was I full of peace and hope? I honestly thought I might be crazy. But soon things began to make sense. 

I had convinced my soul that God would make a way in my wasteland and He did (He is!).  I don’t have time to get into great detail, but this season in my life, ironically, is proving to be one of the best I’ve had in years. I’m getting glorious rest and self-care. I’m seeing transformation in my family and my ministry life. My heart is overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of people, by soul-warming friendship and true Christian fellowship. I’m seeing answers to so many prayers I desperately prayed for years. I’m experiencing blessing upon blessing, too many to name. It’s so clear to me how God was working from behind me and going ahead of me to prepare me for this and use this for my good and His glory. 

God’s ideal will was not for me to get cancer, nor for me to be overwhelmed by responsibilities and disappointments, nor for any of us to be so; but I do believe it was His allowed will.  Nature and circumstances happen and the curse is at work in all aspects of life. Satan comes to steal and kill and destroy, but God comes to give life abundantly and to make His blessings flow, even where the curse of cancer or anything else is found. 

Blessings flowing

I think where God’s allowed will and the curse aligned for me had to be something big because I needed big change. I do believe He will intervene where needed. He intervened at stage 3 for me, to make sure my life was spared; but otherwise, we can trust that His blessings will flow - as far as the curse is found.

This is not to say that things will always improve in every situation or that there are no hopeless circumstances or experiences we will have to endure. We are, in fact, promised that in this world we will have trouble (John 16:33), but as 1 Peter chapter one points out, we can experience inexpressible joy when our hope is set on the end result of our faith--when the curse will be overcome completely. 

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:6-9 NIV

Let us not be deceived or dismayed--the blessing will always be greater than the curse, even if only in the glorious end, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose and never give up. Because in all things He works for the good; because the Spirit is always interceding for us in accordance with God’s will (Romans 8:27-28); because He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion (Philippians 1:6); because He has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:3); because He (not we) is the one who disarms the powers against us and makes a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them! (Colossians 2:15). The curse will not have the final word! These are the messages we need to be preaching to our souls and etching on our hearts as we go into this next season and into a new year in our lives. Greater things are yet to come.

Questions for Reflection: 

1.      Where can you see that both God and Satan might be at work right now?
2.      Do you believe that God is working through all things together in your life for the good? In other words, do you believe that He will make His blessings flow, wherever “the curse” is found in your life?
3.      What have you been preaching to your soul and writing on your heart?

Today I will:

Choose one challenging event you’ve experienced and trace it forward asking, “If this hadn’t happened, what good thing(s) would not have followed?” 

About the Author:

Kristin Nisr was born in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she was baptised in 2000. She is from a mixed Chaldean Iraqi/American background. After receiving her bachelor's degree from UCLA in international development, she spent time in Turkey. In 2012, she married her husband, Sadek (who is originally from Lebanon and also studied international development), and moved to London, UK, where they currently reside with their two very sprightly daughters: Hannah (7) and Sarah (3). Kristin went on to earn her master's degree in international development planning and administration from UCL. She currently works for HOPEworldwide-UK on their homelessness initiatives as well as supporting some of their international programs. Kristin and Sadek lead a family group and Bible talk from their home in a very vibrant and diverse community where they enjoy the opportunity to mix and reach out to people from all over the world.

To hear a special version of "Joy to the World" sung by your sister Amy Kinzer, click the image below:

Photo credits:

(Christmas Bible pic)

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash