The Doorpost: ‘Bad’ things can be a blessing

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
Luke 6:20b-23

In the passage above, and in the verses that follow (verses 24-26), Jesus is telling us things that are

just the opposite of what we naturally think. He wants us to know that sometimes things we call a blessing really aren’t, and things that we are inclined to dislike are actually a blessing. Do we want to be blessed? Then we need to seek the right things.

In Matthew 6:32-33 tells His disciples not to focus on the things the gentiles seek, but to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Physical or emotional comfort can be a trap instead of a blessing. If we are wealthy, we will find it harder to believe that we need God. If we are too well-filled, we probably won’t hunger for God. If we are too happy and satisfied with life, we probably won’t have much desire for God.

When we are obeying Jesus Christ, and yet things seem to be going wrong at every turn, Jesus tells us that we are blessed. When everything always seems to be “going right,” we may need to be concerned. Ephesians 6:10-20 tells us that we are in a war with the devil. We struggle. We wrestle. We face attacks. Jesus says that we should “leap for joy” when this happens. If we aren’t ever facing any struggles, we need to make sure that we are in the battle.