Unusual Blessing {GMG Reflection- Luke 6}

I am not gonna lie. I am ashamed to say that sometimes {okay, a lot of times...} I get frustrated with the way Jesus talks. Sometimes His words make so little sense to this heart and mind that has been trained by the world. And so often I am lazy and do not want to really work my brain to try and understand something not immediately evident. Reading this week's portion of Scripture for my Good Morning Girls Bible study initially brought up the same frustrated feelings of just not "getting it" and then as I spent some time in prayerful reflection and study it began to make sense.

"Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said,

'God blesses you who are poor,

for the kingdom of God is yours.

'God blesses you who are hungry now,

for you will be satisfied.

'God blesses you who weep now, 

for in due time you will laugh.

'What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.'"

~Luke 6:20-23 {NLT}

Jesus is speaking to His newly appointed apostles. Those men who would be poor, hungry, sad, and persecuted for His sake.  He assures them that there is considerable blessing attached to what seem like undesirable life circumstances. In fact, following these verses Jesus goes on to say, "Woe are the..." rich, well fed, happy, highly praised, because their reward is only temporary.  What I see here is a contrast between those whose difficult circumstances required them to rely fully on God putting their hope in the eternal, and those who rely on themselves putting their hope in the temporal.

Last year, I had the blessing of experiencing a season in life in which I was sick, exhausted, emotionally/physically/spiritually tried and desperately unhappy.  Never before in my life had I felt how I did then, completely incapable of improving my circumstances or feelings regarding those circumstances. I previously took pride in my self-reliance and last year's experience was so humbling for me.  It brought me to a place of total reliance on God.  He did not immediately alleviate my suffering, just as He allowed His disciples to be poor, hungry, sad, and persecuted when He, being God, certainly could have easily done something about it. However, He allowed the disciples {and me} to experience difficulty in such a way that only reliance on Him gave us the strength to walk through those difficulties. The intimacy this built in my relationship with God has been a source of lasting joy for me and I give thanks for that difficult time when God taught me to rely on Him and not temporary comforts.

I don't think Jesus is saying that there is anything wrong with being rich, well-fed, happy, or highly praised.  I think He is making the point that greater blessing comes from learning to rely on God as opposed to never needing to. I don't think it was coincidence that the apostles He chose lived through difficult circumstances that required full reliance on God.  And I don't think it is coincidence when his followers today live through difficulties. He loves us and He knows that greater blessing comes from learning to fully rely on Him than from never needing to.

Ever since going through my experiences of last year and experiencing the huge blessing of spiritual growth as a result, when I see my friends walking through difficult seasons in life my heart aches for them but I am also excited for them.  Excited for how God is going to use their experiences to shape them and draw them closer to Himself. If today you are going through a tough time, my heart aches for you, believe me, I know it is not easy. Hold on to the promise found in Jesus's words in Luke and know that you can experience great blessing even in the midst of difficulty!