When focused on 1 goal it is easy to lose site of the total picture of what God intends for our lives to look like. I've been guilty of daydreaming of future days where business is good, finances are abundant and life's cares go far away. I realize now that I have spent more time than I care to admit looking for some comfortable future instead of living in the moment that God has ordained for me. It's certainly not bad to think about the future and to realize that God has great things in store for us. But there is a tendancy in American Christians to think about a life of blessing as being one in which trials have gone away and every material object of our desire has come to us.
In fact, what we are often doing is confusing "comfort" and "blessing". Human nature is to seek comfort, but to be blessed is a divine proposition. It may cross over the earthly dimensions, but there is no guarantee that it always will in every circumstance. Take for instance Matthew 5:11 -
" 11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Wow! What a blessing. Doesn't seem like much to look forward to, does it? Let's see, we have insults, persecution, and false accusations. Oh, and there seems to be a history of this going back to everyone who has spoken on God's behalf. So it doesn't look like Jesus is expecting laws to be passed any time soon to pretect us from these unpleasant things. And yet, if you look at the same passage in the Amplified version, here is what that infamous word "blessed" means:
(happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous--with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions)
Reading passages like this challenge my understanding of the true nature of blessing. For me, these thoughts come on the heels of 2 significant world events. Obviously, 1 is the financial meltdown that us currently happening in the USA. While this is truly a difficult problem for our country to face, I do believe it is a time for Christians who know the voice of God to experience greater levels of peace and provision than they have ever known. I won't belabor this point, as I have written this morning for the 2nd event, which is the outbreak of pursecution for the Christians in India.
We have a few friends who are native missionaries to their own people in India who have reported some of the trials they have had to endure. When I woke up this morning, it was to a cup of coffee, a happy family, and 2 pop tarts. When some of our brothers and sisters in Christ woke up in India this past morning, it was to angry mobs with machetes and kerosene. Many have been tortured, killed, and their possessions laid waste by militant religious groups.
As I see these things taking place around me, and know that some people that we love and care about might possibly die in this rampage, I am sober about my desire for prosperity in any traditional sense. I realized I can't really die well unless I can live well. I am provoked by a recent email from one of the missionaries:
******************************************************************************************************************
Dear partners in the Kingdom work
This is the hour we beg you to pray for us and our nation. Claim India as a Christian nation...Thank you very much for standing with us in changing the nation one village at a time. In these last days let us use every opportunity to proclaim the love of Christ. Let us invest time and money whatever we can. I am challenged by the circumstances. Pressing forward to reach my goal... .
Regards
Lata and Abraham
for perishing souls
our new web page
http://www.fwsindia.org/
******************************************************************************************************************
May we run our race well...
