Episode 61 - Blessing

Blessing, as the Chief Apostle once defined it, is, “any action of God that opens the way to bring you closer to Him.” Thus, it is something that the Lord allows that gives us the opportunity to come closer to Him. 

Blessings cannot be counted by the things one thinks are good in life, or by material things – the Lord can give that, but He also allows difficult things in our lives. We have the option to take that opportunity. For example, the time when Jacob wrestles with a godly being in order to get a blessing (cf. Genesis 32:24-30). One can struggle and strive for it. That is what Jacob did. He realized that he wanted to be closer to God and receive something from Him, and the Lord granted it to Jacob in various unusual events throughout his life. This means that we cannot earn it – we want God’s blessing because we want to be closer to Him, but we do not deserve it, it is just by God’s grace. 

A word that relates to “blessing” is “blessed.” This points to the Beatitudes where Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted…” (cf. Matthew 5:3-10). With the Beatitudes, Jesus indicates a shift. In the Old Testament, ofttimes, the blessing was viewed in a certain way (e.g. when David won the battles against his enemies, God’s blessing was with him). Jesus shows a different way – it is not all good things that happen, and that does not mean one is not close to God. One cannot determine how blessed one is according to their material condition on earth (e.g. thinking a rich man is “more blessed” than the one who is poor). Struggling is accepting what God puts in our lives, realizing that if He allowed it, then He is blessing us in some way because His motive is to bring us closer to Him.

God is always with us and He always wants us to be with Him. That means sometimes we will have to struggle and suffer, but Jesus Christ did that; He submitted to the will of the Father (cf. Luke 22:42).