Blinded to Blessing.

Blessing: A means of happiness; that which promotes prosperity and welfare; a beneficent gift.

Sometimes, I am blind to blessing.  

Sometimes, I'm like the pharisees.

I interpret the blessings God has promised to me.  I think I have a general idea of what it will mean for Him to work all things for my good (Romans 8:28) or what His plan for good is for my life. (Jeremiah 29:11)

I don't struggle with if God will be faithful to His plan and His promise to work all for my good.  I know He will.  My issue is that I look for the blessing I am expecting.

The pharisees and all of Israel were promised a Messiah. Isaiah 9:6-7 speaks of their promised Christ:

 For to us a child is born, 

   to us a son is given, 

   and the government will be on his shoulders. 

And he will be called 

   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 

   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

 Of the greatness of his government and peace 

   there will be no end. 

He will reign on David’s throne 

   and over his kingdom, 

establishing and upholding it 

   with justice and righteousness 

   from that time on and forever. 

The zeal of the LORD Almighty 

   will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9: 6-7

They expected a political figure.  They could not understand that the Kingdom of Christ is a Heavenly kingdom, not an earthly one!

Because they were looking for a blessing they expected, they missed Christ.  

Sometimes, I'm like Naomi.

"Don’t call me Naomi,"  she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.  I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

Ruth 1: 20-22

Naomi has bad circumstances.  Her husband and her two sons have died while she was in a foreign land.  She is now returning home without those who she left with, but she is taking Ruth back with her! Look at the very next verse, verse 23.

So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

Ruth 1:23

Ruth! Ruth is the woman who said to Naomi the words that we hear so often...

“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

Ruth 1:16-17

Oh, Naomi! You have Ruth! She is so blinded by her circumstances that she fails to recognize the blessing the Lord has brought to her life in Ruth.

She isn't alone.  There are so many Ruths in my life that I forget to be thankful for because I am so blinded by my circumstance.  

The pharisees aren't alone.  There are so many fulfilled promises the Lord blesses me with that I don't notice because I'm caught up searching for the blessing I'm expecting.

The past week, I've been tempted to miss a lot.  This is me taking a moment to thank Jesus for the blessings I could've been blind towards the past few days. 

James 5:16 says: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

I didn't see this week coming.  Its not what I expected, but God has a way of shattering my expectations and working in mysterious ways.  He used beautiful, righteous people to pray for me so that I would be healed.  

How great is our GOD that He is bigger than my expectations. 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.

Isaiah 55:8

Taylor Tate:  

Thanks for being one of many Ruths while I was 

busy being Naomi this week.