Always Blessed

“Ye [are] blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth.” (Ps 115:15 AV)

A simple truth that we often forget.  It does not matter what our life might be like, we are still blessed.  I know it is a temptation to look at the lives of others and believe they are more blessed than we.  And they may be more blessed.  Why God chooses to bless the wicked and send the righteous through adversity is a matter of perspective.  We are blessed by the simple fact that God chose to create us and then offer us the free gift of salvation.  If nothing else, we have an intimate relationship with our Creator and a home in heaven that can never be taken away.  We are blessed.  More than we might realize!

It is easy to be so overwhelmed by the troubles of life that we forget this truth.  Things come in that occupy everything we are and have.  We come to the end of ourselves, and we see life as one big dark blot.  We have forgotten how blessed we are.  We struggle with our careers, our finances, and our never-ending task list.  We forget how blessed we are.  We struggle with children who seem to be more that we bargained for.  We have to tend to the dog, the roof, and the car.  We forget how blessed we are.  We go to church, and from the moment we enter the doors to the minute we leave, there is something to do, someone who needs something, and a pointed message which seemed tailor made for our situation.  We go to the altar, but when we return to our seats, there seems to be no significant change.  We forget how blessed we are.  We age, and things that used to take little to no effort seem like scaling a mountain peak.  Spring is here, but winter is right around the corner.  We forget how blessed we are.  We get home from work and not we have three to four hours of meal preparation, cleaning up, and other household chores, and bedtime is some distant wish.  But we forget how blessed we are.  TV is not help.  We try to escape the reality of a world on fire, hoping that someone will fix it all.  In doing so, we forget how blessed we are.  Then the day comes when we have to say goodbye to those who are closest to us.  For them or for us, it is a very sad day.  Yet, we can remember how blessed we are.

The tense of the word ‘…blessed…’ is the perfect present tense.  It was true in the past.  It will be true in the future.  It is true in the present.  The psalmist is careful to frame the blessed state of the child of God as a never-ending one.  No matter what life may bring, it cannot take away what God has promised.  No matter what happens in the future, it cannot undo the blessings of the past.  If COVID taught us anything, it was to be grateful.  Prior to that disaster, we had what we needed or wanted at the moment it was desired.  There was no shortage of anything.  When a bit of adversity happened, we realized how blessed we were.  Perhaps that is why God allows adversity.  At least one reason He allows it.  Maybe we have forgotten just how forgiven and blessed we are, and only realize it when what we had is replaced by what we don’t have.  God is good.  All the time!  We have a home in heaven because our sins are all forgiven.  For that mere fact alone, we of all people are most blessed forever!