There was an article published recently in the Huffington Post titled “The One Thing Christians Should Stop Saying”. Its basis is that American Christians seem to throw around the phrase “I’m blessed” and attach it to material possessions or apparent success and then call that God’s favor. It brought up the plight of Christians around the world who are persecuted and/or poor and have not had the life experiences that most Americans enjoy – why are they not “blessed” by God, given this interpretation of said “blessings”? I totally agree that this mindset is errant and a total misrepresentation of the blessings of God and that many people’s understanding of what God’s blessings are should change; I even agree with a lot of what was said in the article. However, in a culture that is constantly striving to never offend anyone (even in the church-world), we must be sure not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We should use wisdom of course but we should NOT stop testifying to the goodness of God in our lives (as the article title seems to indicate).

For several years now, God has seared a scripture into our family’s heart, being John 10:10 (this is Jesus speaking here)… The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. We even have the last half of the verse plastered on our living room wall thanks to a dear friend who has a vinyl sign business. Most people focus on more abundant life as everything being (in the words of a pastor friend from TN) “candy-cake & puddin’-pie”. However, what brings us life more abundantly is the fact that Jesus, who is THE LIFE, has come and won’t ever leave. In our 18 years together, Micah and I have walked through a lot and in every moment, every step, every event, God has always been there with us. Even when the thieves of busy-ness, sickness, misunderstanding, mistreatment, religious mindsets, or flat out schemes of the enemy have come against our lives to try take what they want and leave us in the wake of destruction, devastation, despair or depression, Jesus always, ALWAYS let us know that HE HAD COME and HE WASN’T GOING ANYWHERE.  And I bet if someone actually asked those believers in other countries if they are blessed and why, I'm guessing they’d emphatically let us know that they have Jesus and that is abundant life.

This is what I know:  I was blessed by God just to be born since the doctors had told my parents 3 years before my arrival that they wouldn’t have any more kids because of my dad’s meningitis medicine. I was blessed by God through my parents when I was a child because I was loved, fed, warm (winter & summer, lol!), clothed, corrected & clean – though I didn’t understand that yet. I was blessed by God when I did things God’s way and let Him choose my spouse, even though I experienced a heartbreak or two before then. I was blessed by God when we were first married and lived in income-based housing and ate wild game that my in-laws had given us – I even acquired tastes for foods I didn’t know I’d like. I was blessed by God when my husband had a work injury that he didn’t report which kept him out of work for two weeks with a knee infection and God proved Himself faithful by supplying the extra funds we needed right when we needed it through the sale of a broken down car we had basically forgot about. I was blessed by God when Micah & I chose to follow God’s purpose for our lives and leave our families, jobs, home and ministry to move 5 hours away and let Him cultivate our hearts in ways we never thought possible. In that time, I was blessed by God to live in a garage apartment for 4 months at the home of total strangers who are now some of the most dear people I know. I was blessed by God to move into a little 2 bedroom rent house and cry with joy for the provision of God the first time I went to the “cheap” grocery store and brought home $60 worth of food for our own cabinets again. I was blessed by God when we moved our own 2 bedroom house on 5 acres of peace & quiet and thought that was more than I ever deserved or dreamed. I was blessed by God as He continually changed my heart through all this time and I heard words of life preached that forever changed who I am. I was blessed by God in the midst of disappointments of how I thought things should go by finding Him faithfully, continually there to preserve peace in my soul. I was blessed by God to bring home a healthy baby boy from the hospital and watch him grow into a unique expression of the character of God. I was blessed by God to witness as God took care of 2 house sales (after we’d just remodeled our little house in OK and I finally had my own music room) when He moved us back to Missouri and I got to live my dream as a stay at home mom, and even though that was in a place where I knew nobody I eventually met new friends that I still hold dear to my heart. I was blessed to bring home a healthy baby girl from the hospital and watch her grow into her own unique expression of God’s character. When that little girl later spent 4 days in the regional children’s hospital with a 105◦ fever and a kidney infection, we were blessed by God with the excellent care, quick diagnosis and effective treatment she received…and boy were we ever thankful to be taking our healthy baby girl home again! I was blessed by God with His comfort as family members passed over to eternal glory. I was blessed by God with faithful pastors, great friends, and awesome co-laborers in the gospel; with a church family that stood through hardships, misunderstanding and flat out mistreatment from other believers. I was blessed by God as He moved us yet again and has totally blown our mind “more than we could ask or think” in our spirits, souls & bodies, financially, physically, emotionally, socially…and those are just some highlights of my life. J

You name it, He’s done it. I don't claim to be blessed because there has been an absence of hard times. I'm blessed because my Jesus HAS COME into my life, taken up residence and He’s never left me through all of the ups and downs, ins and outs of life, and there have been plenty. Jesus told us not to be surprised when we face trials in this world – and admittedly some Christians are very surprised when they do – but He also told us to be of GOOD CHEER because HE HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD! In fact, a praising heart that kept declaring God’s goodness is what got me through some of my own difficult times. I was like the psalmist who declared, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” Ps 27:13.  So in an attempt to “be humble” or "inoffensive", I will not magnify my trials and I will not belittle nor will I be silent about the saving, comforting, continuous grace God has lavished on every area of my life. What I will do is focus on HIM and the blessing of His love…I will seek His face (His presence) and not His hand (His presents), and use wisdom in knowing that it’s ok to proclaim His goodness towards us.  

Psalms 144:15 AMP says…Happy and blessed are the people who are in such a case; yes, happy (blessed, fortunate, prosperous, to be envied) are the people whose God is the Lord! Did you know that we are the only “religion” whose God loves them back, desires an actual relationship and not just obedience, and even went so far that He made the relationship possible? We have a reason that we are happy and blessed (and yes, in the Old & New Testaments, these words are synonyms). So let’s just change our confession – not silence it! There are people everywhere who still need to know that Jesus has come to bring them life and it’s up to us to let them know.