“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.”

                                                                                                Ephesians 1:3

On the news recently a reporter was covering a tornado that touched down, and he was interviewing someone whose property had been narrowly missed but totally unscathed by the storm. The person said, “We were really blessed.” In hearing that statement, I believe we have come to misunderstand the theology of God’s blessing.

If God blessed that person by making the tornado miss his home, does that mean the people whose houses were ruined do not merit God’s blessing? Was that tornado a divine punishment for them? And what if the person whose house was not harmed was an atheist, but the person whose house was destroyed was a devout Christian? How do you explain that?

The world has come to understand God’s “blessing” as how events affect “them”. If they escape harm, they are “blessed”. If they are materially well off, they are “blessed”. If disease avoids them, they are “blessed”. What is inherent in all those beliefs, however, is that if that is how “blessed” is defined, what happens when they don’t escape harm, when they have a financial crisis, when they get sick? Have they lost God’s “blessing”? Are they no longer “blessed”?

God’s blessing was what the original covenant with Abram was all about. At its very core, it meant God would be their God and they would be his people. And if you read in Ephesians, the very first chapter speaks of what those blessings mean.

-        God chose us in Christ (v.4).

-        He predestinated us unto sonship (v. 5).

-        He redeemed us through Christ’s blood (v.7).

-        He designated us as God’s inheritance (v. 11).

-        He sealed us with the Holy Spirit who is the pledge, a guarantee of God as our inheritance (vv. 13-14).

God’s blessing is on all His children and it never leaves them, regardless of the circumstances and situations of their lives. We live in a fallen world full of sin and disease and natural occurrences, and therefore bad things will happen to all of us. The beauty of being blessed by God is that no matter what we are going through, that blessing never leaves us. No matter what storm blows through our lives, we are chosen, redeemed, sealed children of God blessed with the inheritance of eternal life.

The greatest blessing in my life was having cancer. It was only then that I could realize the value of God’s blessing. It meant that no matter what happened, cancer could not defeat my faith, for it was and is in a God who has promised all of eternity to a wretched sinner like me. No matter what happens in my life here – good or bad – His blessing stays with me.

I am truly blessed, regardless of any circumstances or situation I’m in. How about you?

“Father, Thank you for Your blessing on our lives. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Grace,

Rev. Dan