Am I Blessed?

This post brought to you by Sunday school class! During which we read the Beatitudes in the Message version. And also by my good friends who have inspired me to get back in the Word by reading just a chapter a day. I've been reading the Message version because I hadn't before and sometimes it helps me to think about things in a new way. Other times I have to go back to the standard NIV to find out what the heck Eugene is talking about.

I've really enjoyed reading the Sermon on the Mount in this translation - er paraphrase. It's provoked some good thoughts.

Matthew 5:3-10

3 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

I'm pretty careful to not let myself get to the end of my rope. It's uncomfortable and I don't like it. If you get to the end of your rope but you don't surrender to God's rule, it gets pretty ugly. So I just avoid it entirely. Missed Blessing.

4 “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

I can remember 1.5 times in my life when I lost what (or who) was most dear to me. Although it was painful, I remember a deep joy and refreshment that came from letting God be back in His rightful place of being Most Dear. 1.5 times is not a whole lot. But I'm not volunteering to lose anyone right now. Missed Blessing. 

5 “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

I'm probably more content with who I am now than I ever have been before. But I doubt I'll ever be completely content until I radiate Jesus INSIDE and out 24/7. And I think that's a good thing. Blessing!

6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

My appetite has definitely been whetted these past months/year. But I think there's a step between having the appetite and getting the blessing. Trust, maybe? Surrender?

7 “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

I have a great capacity to care. But I am also very careful to protect myself from caring too deeply that it hurts too much. That is good and bad. I wouldn't be able to work where I do if I didn't have this protection mechanism. On the other hand, I don't often let myself go far enough to the blessing of being cared for. I don't let myself get to the end of my rope, remember? Missed Blessing.

8 “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

I'm better at getting my outside world right and hoping the inside world will follow suit. I'm finally realizing that it doesn't work that way. Missed Blessing.

9 “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

So avoiding conflict, troublemakers, drama queens, people who are constantly fighting, etc. disqualifies me from this blessing? Drat. Missed Blessing.

10 “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

Stinking Freedom of Religion. Jokes aside, I usually back off in the name of being tolerant or loving others before it gets to the point of persecution. Missed Blessing.

Do you still get blessings even if you don't suffer? Are these just bonus blessings to make the pain a little less painful? Is not-suffering a blessing in itself? Is it the only blessing available to non-sufferers? Do we need blessings?

It dawned on me (after Sunday school and halfway through Pastor Jim's sermon) that I was missing out on a considerable number of blessings due to my self-preservation methods and lack of willingness to stretch myself. So I started thinking about ways I could add a little more pain into my life in order to get a little more gain.

Give away my savings account
Foster care (as in care for - not give up - a child or three)
Dig in to Thriver's lives. Like more than just an hour on Wed.
Take a Stand
Ask the hard questions and don't shy away at the answers

I'm sure I had more and crazier ideas that Sunday but I didn't write them down and I can't remember them now. I don't think it's wise to go looking for pain just to get a blessing. But I do think I need to take a look at how careful I am to protect myself and re-evaluate whether or not it is actually protecting me in the long run (i.e. eternity). And whether it should be God protecting me, not me protecting me.