When Life Drives You to God

By Richard

The beatitudes are those powerful set of blessings that Jesus delivers as His opening to the Sermon on the Mount. I don’t know about you, but when I read them I find them both inspiring and confusing at the same time. I like how The Message puts them in a way that describes how what the world normally counts as negative, because it can drive us nuts, can be positive because it drives us closer to God. Here’s my summary of what The Message says.

Blessed are you when you are at the end of your rope because now there’s less of you and more of God

Blessed are you when you experience loss because you’ll be in the right place to be embraced by God

Blessed are you when you are content because you’ll see and enjoy God’s blessings

Blessed are you when you work up a spiritual appetite because God will give you the best food and drink you’ll ever have

Blessed are you when you care for others because you’ll find yourself in that same moment cared for by God

Blessed are you when your inside world is put right because you’ll be able to see God in your outside world

Blessed are you when you help people cooperate (rather than fight) because you’ll discover you have a place in God’s family

Blessed are you when you are persecuted because you’ll find that the persecution actually works to drive you deeper into God’s love

As I write these words, to be perfectly honest, I’m busy and stressed. We have only a few days to Easter and a big service coming up. Between now and then we have a short break in Malaga planned and the boys have some vacation coming up, and so there’s the pressure to spend time with them too. Honestly, I’m not at my most creative under pressure. These verses remind me that busyness is not meant to drive me nuts but drive me to God. These verses remind me that it’s all about Jesus and that through the busyness I need to spend time finding Him. Easter at the end of the day is not about a polished programme but the presence of Christ in our lives. I’m praying that God turns my busyness into blessings; that rather than taking a short cut on spending time with Him in prayer and study I will increase the amount. I’m praying that this Easter people will find Jesus, not through our words, but through His presence in our lives.

These verses reminded me that God wants to turn the whole of life, good and bad, into blessings. With the greatest blessing of all a growing relationship with Christ!