What if blessing doesn’t come in the form of gross sales, facebook likes and career promotions? What if instead, it comes in the shape of heart lessons and contentment? What if the way we’ve been taught to measure blessing is actually the world’s view of success? What if “blessing” is actually NOT measured by worldly standards but by the very presence of God in our lives?
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is in the Lord." Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed is the man who trusts. Not blessed is the man who has everything. Not blessed is the man who wins elections, has a million twitter followers, has the biggest house or the most friends. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. Scripture tells us that God’s plan for us is, indeed, prosperous, good and blessed - but somewhere along the way perhaps we have turned it into a story of worldly success over simply being God’s vessel.
When I was in Africa several years ago, the term 'blessing' impacted me greatly when these precious women who had nothing would exclaim over and over that they were so very blessed.They had great contentment, joy and the overflowing presence of the Holy Spirit. They worshiped Jesus with every step they took. They saw their very breath as a blessing from God.
They didn’t question quantity of quality because all they had was quality - and they viewed themselves as so very rich. I fear that I’ve gotten this wrong for so long. I fear that I’ve valued success over blessing - I fear that I’ve put them in the same bucket when they were never intended to be.
In scripture, the way of blessing was the way of the wilderness. The Israelites questioned and argued and complained the entire way, but Moses trusted God to deliver time and time again. The way of blessing was the fiery furnace. Their faith was extreme - and only grew after God saved them. The trust they exhibited in the Lord was contagious. The way of blessing was through the death of Ruth's husband. She persevered, experienced God’s faithfulness and then became a woman in the line of David. Her trust in the Lord deepened. Friend, we have to stop thinking of blessing in terms of the way the world thinks of it. We've got to start looking at blessing through the eyes of an eternal God that has plans and purposes far beyond what our eyes can see or our minds can comprehend.
This week, make a conscious effort to think of even your hardship as a blessing from the Lord in some way. What is He teaching you here? What are you learning? How is He refining you? Could it possibly be that He is doing a new thing even now?
Be encouraged, the Lord is at work and IS blessing you whether you see it or not.