BLESSING means favor or approval. We normally think that God is giving us blessings when we are safe, secure, surrounded by good time and good friends, financially well-off with a big house and expensive car, and everything is going well in our lives. That’s when we are blessed! This is not, however, what is often stated in the Bible as a BLESSING. These outward things are not a sign of God’s approval. This is not how Jesus defined someone who is blessed. God’s grace looks very different. Look at the book of Job. Look at Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 3-12 and Luke 6:20-26). Look at Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). I think we’ve turned God’s intention upside down.
Who is blessed? When you’ve come to the bottom of your rope, you are blessed, for now there is only one way to go: up. When others are disappointed in you, you are blessed, for now you can turn to face God and see an approving smile. When you are overcome by an emptiness inside, you are blessed, for God can fill it better than any other person or thing. When a deep loss has brought you to your knees, you are blessed, for God is near. When you are cowering in the corner, scared to step out, you are blessed, for God will be your strength. When you are standing on the street corner fighting for justice, you are blessed, for God is ready to fight for you. When you give a compliment to someone who called you a fool, you are blessed, for God’s love is shining through you. When you lend a hand to a fallen neighbor even though you’ve disagreed in the past, you are blessed, for that is the mercy of God in you. When you walk confidently into the public square to speak out for someone who is being denied their human rights, you are blessed, for you are the voice of God. When you let go of that grudge that you’ve treasured in your heart, you are blessed, for now there’s more room for love. When others look down their noses at you, you are blessed, for they looked down on Jesus, too. When you’re standing outside the circle, you are blessed, for you are included in God’s circle.
I want to be careful with my words and explain my use of the word BLESSING. I do not mean that all of these things are good things. It is not good to be hungry or grieving or scared, abused or neglected or lacking. However, this is where God steps in and meets us. This is often where we feel closest to God because it is where we are letting go of self. This is where we stop striving and let the transforming and redeeming work of God take over. Furthermore, please don’t ever think this is God causing all these bad things to happen. God is not like that. That would be cruel. God doesn’t cause evil just so he can then step in to save. No! God’s love works in an imperfect world bringing hope to hopelessness, but definitely not causing the hopelessness in the first place. God is not a puppeteer controlling events on earth. The Eternal One works with people in freedom.
Maybe this quote from Richard Rohr will help explain it: “Rational and sincere people wonder, “If God is almighty and all-loving, then why is there so much suffering in the world?” But once you experience God as all-vulnerable, then perhaps God stands in solidarity with all pain and suffering in the universe, allowing us to be participants in our own healing. This does not make sense to the logical mind, but to the awakened soul it somehow does.”
“He loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner.” (Matthew 5:45)
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