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Stressed or Blessed?

19 Sunday Nov 2017

Posted by Shelley Shrader in Faith, Hope

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#blessed, blessing, Christianity, God, grateful, life, satisfaction, stress, struggles, thankful, Thanksgiving, trials

Blessed or Stressed

Health issues. Finances. Relationships. School or work deadlines. These are just some of life’s hurdles that cause our blood pressure to rise and our hearts to race.

I’m involved in a ministry that reveals truth to people’s hearts, freeing them to live life abundantly.  When I invite my Christian friends to our foundations of freedom classes, I often hear things like, “Thank you, but I’m blessed.”

I had lunch with a friend recently who said she has trouble with the word blessed.  Social media is flooded this time of year with various products and pictures sporting the slogan: Grateful, Thankful and Blessed.

However, is the person struggling with a chronic illness like depression blessed? Or the person who can’t make their next house payment? Or what about the couple who is going through a divorce? Or is grieving the loss of a loved one?

The answer to these questions lies in scripture.  In Matthew 5:11, Jesus says our blessedness is because of Him.  Therefore, it’s important for us to realize being blessed is not always contingent on our circumstances.

The Hebrew word for blessed is barak and the Greek word is makarios. It means to praise, give thanks, congratulate, or speak well of others.  In some contexts, to give a blessing is to act kindly or impart benefits to the one being blessed.

This Thanksgiving we’ll gather around a festive table with family and thank God for our many blessings: friends, family, good health, our homes, jobs…

God is certainly involved in such blessings, but these circumstances don’t have to be present for us to be blessed. Markario also means to be characterized by the quality of God. In other words, anything that God is in is blessed.

Let’s be real for a moment. Life isn’t always rosy. Terrible things happen. In 2013, my husband lost a prestigious and lucrative job he held for over 20 years. Overnight, our life changed drastically.  Instead of allowing my circumstances to rock my world, I chose to focus on God and His Word because He alone, satisfies my soul. We came into this world with nothing and will leave with nothing (1 Tim. 6:6-7).

The Apostle Paul learned to be content with nothing, because he experienced a deep satisfaction that came from an intimate relationship with Jesus. He drew strength from Jesus, not himself or this world.

In Charles Dicken’s  A Christmas Carol, the Cratchit family struggles to put food on the table and buy the medicine needed to care for their young, crippled son. Tiny Tim is expected to die unless their circumstances change. But through it all, we see the Cratchits’ giving thanks to God because they put their trust in the Lord not their circumstances.

Blessedness comes from satisfaction when we depend on Jesus to meet our needs. Every one of them. God’s life-long goal for us is to become more like Christ every day.  Since we can’t do this alone, He gave us His Holy Spirit to empower us.

Could blessedness be about our perspective then? When viewed through scriptural lenses, it’s progressive in nature as we learn to think and act like Jesus. This is a life-long process; we’re not made complete in Christ until His return (Phil. 1:6).

Questions for prayer and reflection:

  1. Think of a time when circumstances rocked your world. Did you see the blessing during storm?
  2. How did those circumstances change the way you previously thought about things?
  3. How did you draw strength from Christ and how did He meet your need?
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Why Wonder?

26 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by Shelley Shrader in Faith, Hope

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awe, believe, Bible, children, Faith, God, hope, Jesus, life, trials, Trust, wonder

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The Seven Natural Wonders of the World, Wonder Woman, and Wonderland all conjure up our innate sense of curiosity and excitement.

Dictionary.com defines the verb wonder as being filled with admiration, amazement, or awe.

I was completely awe-stricken when my daughter was born. My eyes were opened to Him as Creator of heaven and earth, perhaps for the first time. A myriad of emotions and thoughts tossed about in my heart and head. Would I be a good mom? Who would she grow up to look like, and what dreams and aspirations would she pursue?

As children grow, so does their sense of wonder. They see the world through fresh, inquisitive eyes. Not yet tainted by the evil in the world, they see endless possibilities.

In the opening scene of the 2015 release of Cinderella, young Ella’s imagination is captured by the clouds. The narrator describes Ella as one who saw the world not always as it was, but as it could be. From a young age, she is taught by her mother to believe in the goodness of others.

Everybody believes in something or someone that stimulates their sense of wonder. The magic of Christmas leaves children “wide-eyed and mystified” Christmas morning. Legends and tales of elusive creatures lurking in the recesses of earth capture our imagination and inspire a sense of awe.

It’s child-like faith that connects us to the wonder of God. The writer of Hebrews says it’s this confident trust in the Lord that brings us a great reward (Heb. 10:35). St. Augustine says it this way, “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”

We can think of faith as a muscle. If we’re to grow in our faith, we must exercise it. Every day, we’re faced with situations that allow us to practice what we believe. For example, when we sit down to eat, we have faith the chair will hold us. When we cross a busy street, we have faith in the crosswalk signal as it illuminates walk.

Then, there are circumstances we face that challenge our faith more. Not long ago, I was talking to my sister who has already sentenced herself to a future with Alzheimer’s. Why? Because science has proven it’s hereditary. I believe God is bigger than any disease and Jesus died for our infirmities (Is. 53:3-4, 1 Ptr. 2:24). Therefore, I can’t think or speak that way.

Am I in denial? No. I don’t think so. I’m simply exercising child-like faith and trusting in the character of the Father I come to know and love. My hope is in Him alone. NOT man.

God is seen and known through our sense of wonder. If you are struggling, take courage, have faith and never lose your wonder of God. All things are possible with Him (Lk. 18:27). Don’t take my word for it but God’s. You can read about it in the greatest non-fiction book ever written and all-time best seller: the Bible. Take time to ponder and pray as you read. You might encounter Jesus in a new and wonderful way.

A song for reflection:

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