Faithful on Fridays Blog

Beatitudes Part One: Blessing

There are two words in the Bible that are translated blessing; the first is berakah. It’s used when God displays His favor to people by giving them prosperity, fruitfulness, success, good health, etc. When you obey God’s laws you’re rewarded by Him and it’s evident to all. However, my question for you today is this: If you are NOT prosperous, fruitful, successful, or healthy is God withholding His blessing from you? Can a Christian look at others and determine who is blessed and who isn’t? Think about it. How does a persecuted Christian in Iran view God’s blessing? What about those believers in China or North Korea where Christianity is illegal; how do they view God’s blessing?

I want a new perspective on the Biblical definition of blessing. When we have God’s point of view we look at our life and acknowledge His provision. It’s not about the blessing of owning the car or house of your choice, but the ability to walk outside in the fresh air. It’s not about a successful career making a lot of money, but the fact that you can put food on the table for your family. It may not be a vacation to the destination of your choice, but staying out of jail one more day for worshiping Jesus. Thinking that way can change your perspective on blessing. 

Job undoubtedly questioned God’s blessing. He experienced the prosperity, success, good health, and fruitfulness of God’s hand on His life and then in a moment of time … it was gone. The book of Job describes his progress through this difficult time of life when it looked as if God had withdrawn His blessing and it wasn’t fair in Job’s eyes. The perspective of his three friends was this: Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Therefore, when life gets difficult, you must have done something wrong. At the end of the book we listen as God, throughout five chapters (38-42), describe His sovereignty and rebuke the three friends for their inaccurate view: they were wrong. 

If it looks like you’re not blessed, walk outside and enjoy the sunshine and breeze on your face: that’s a blessing. Thank Him that you have freedom and ability to even take that walk. If you’re in a good place right now; have a thankful heart. If you’re in a difficult place, rest assured, God hasn’t removed the berakah from you. He may be testing what’s in your heart and desires to make a correction of your perspective on blessing.

This begins a series on Jesus’ perspective of the second word for blessing: makarios. It’s the Greek word that’s used in the Sermon on the Mount meaning ‘living in a state of spiritual well-being, free from daily worry, and in God’s will’. We’ll walk through this homily together and discover the connection between being blessed according to God’s viewpoint and how to experience victorious kingdom living. It truly connects heaven and earth.