Blessings and Woes

Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. 

But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

It would be a mistake to assume that the blessings and woes here are purely literal.  I mentioned in a previous post the perspective one gets from not having money, how it brings more gratitude.  Being hungry from not having enough to eat goes hand in hand with being poor.  But being spiritually hungry, longing to find something better, is something that is universal.  There are blessings from going through adversity that times of comfort and ease do not provide.  Sports offer a great example of this.  I recently came across a story about Hansel Enmanuel, a basketball player for Austin Peay University from the Dominican Republic who lost his left arm when he was six years old.  

"I just feel like that I'm doing my job the way that God wants me to do it," Enmanuel said. "I want to get better every day.  Nothing can stop me. Never. I could have a million things in my way. I'm never going to stop." 

Being well fed, happy (laughing) and well-regarded can lead to a sense of complacency and entitlement that stunts spiritual growth and mercy toward others.  Being able to see both trials and blessings as part of God’s plan for our lives, and know in our hearts that God loves us, so whatever pain we are going through will work to good (see Romans 8:28) brings a completely different perspective.

He doesn't think of what his life might have been like with two arms. "I don't go back. I go day by day and take care of what I've got to take care of," Enmanuel said. "I don't really plan anything. That's just the type of person I am, because God's got my plan."