covered in dust: blessed too

blessed too

In my last entry (click here), I pointed to a somewhat common way of thinking among Americans when we want to be blessed. I did a bit of research into wealth statistics and who is "rich" according to world standards. It was very revealing and convicting to me personally.

There's more to this story of who God considers to be blessed.

This post is as much a confession as it is a conviction.

My search for who God considers to be blessed started because of my current situation and season of life. As of this writing, I have been unemployed for 17 weeks. I have had 6 interviews. Three of my six interviews have had two conversations about potential employment. One of my interviews had THREE very good conversations about partnering together. In fact, the opportunity with three interviews was some of the best interviewing that I had ever done. It was a great experience... but did not end in my getting hired. I'm ok with that. I throw open the doors of opportunity seeking God's direction and He closes the doors giving me clarity to His leading.

However, these past 17 weeks have been teaching me how much I am one of the people who trust in their financial security sometimes more than God. I remember a time a few weeks ago that I was praying and seeking God, when I clearly heard Him ask, "Do you really trust me even if the money is gone or dwindling? Will you trust me to get you through this? Do you believe that I have a better plan?"

I have to admit that those words cut to my heart. I felt sorrow for my lack of faith in my wonderful God; the God that I love SO much. This motivated me to action.

"How could I be so shallow?" I thought... but He was right. I was ok with suffering this trial or season because the money kept coming in (which is a miracle by itself).

During this time frame, I had a conversation with a friend via Facebook. Their status update said something to the affect of "When will I stop suffering and get on to my blessings?" Again, this is not verbatim but it motivated me to uncover who God considers to be blessed. I have to be honest with you, I had that same thought last week. But then, I remembered my study about who is blessed and realized that I was blessed BECAUSE of this trial.

Allow me to contextualize this a bit. A man familiar with suffering in the Bible is Job (pronounced with a long "o"). He is wealthy. He is described as "blameless and upright." One day, Satan decides to go for a walk and ends up strolling up to God with the angels. God plays with him a bit and says something like, "Where did you come from?" Satan's like, "Oh, ya know, just wanderin' around a bit." Then God points out Job and praises him for his faith and trust.

Here's some of the conversation:

"Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. (Job 1:9-12)

This happened twice. The first time, Satan took his worldly wealth- family, home, livestock, employees ("took" is actually more like destroyed). The second time, Satan took away Job's health and gave him sores and sickness. Do you struggle with that a bit? I do. God allowed Job to be tested. God allowed bad things to happen to a good man. God did not cause the trial or hardship or pain. Why? God new that Job could handle it.

Consider this... "If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." (1 Corinthians 10:12-13)

Couldn't this also read trials in lieu of temptations? Just prior to these verses, Paul is writing about how the Israelite's forefathers were tempted and fell away from God through their actions and their unfaithful hearts. Trials tend to give us opportunity to either stand firm under the pressure of the situation or to crumble to the temptations all around us. Trials are a testing ground of our character. While I'm at it, let me just clarify that God is much more interested in your character than your comfort.

Let's now see how Job responded:

"At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.' In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." (Job 1:20-22)

Wow.

God was right about Job.

I rarely respond like that. Typically I get pissed off or depressed when crazy stuff happens to me. I usually start questioning God about what I must have done to deserve punishment. It is as if I think my suffering is because I wasn't good enough or did something wrong. I am learning that the opposite is true. I suffer BECAUSE I am faithful to God not because I did something wrong. I think we as a Christ-followers need to emphasize more often that our trust in Jesus will not lead us into a comfortable life or wealth or health or happiness but it could actually lead us away from these things. Job responds this way, "His wife said to him, 'Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!' He replied, 'You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?' In all this, Job did not sin in what he said." (Job 2:9-10)

Excited about following Jesus? Probably not after that last paragraph, huh?

Wait, there's more.

This suffering through difficulties and hardships and trials are not for our comfort but our character. James, Jesus' brother, had to say about this: "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." (James 1:2-4)

This idea of joy in suffering I think directly relates to who God considers to be blessed. We are blessed because God is allowing our faith to grow which leads us to becoming "perfect and complete, needing nothing." Another way of translating the meaning of "perfect and complete" is "to be made whole."

This is a spiritual act of defiance AGAINST or in spite of our circumstances. The blessed are acting out their faith in God/Jesus empowered by the Spirit of God. It is proving that their faith is real. Paul writes to the believers at Corinth (in Greece), "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." (2 Corinthians 4:6-9) .

The blessed are defiant; standing strong in weakness This is the life of a spiritually alive follower of Jesus. The blessed have a life of trials, hardships, pain, excitement, adventure and fulfillment. The blessed are rebellious to the chaos, turmoil and pain by finding peace in conflict, joy in suffering and love in brokenness.

This life of defiance is only possible through the power of Jesus alive in us through His grace and love. Are you one of the blessed?

| composed by dave |

blessed too

collections

my online spaces

blogroll

archive