it's a relatively new thing for people to say that they "feel blessed" or that they're "too blessed to be stressed" or something along those lines. (which is kind of intriguing - that it's a relatively new thing - when you think about it. given how secular we've become.).
(not that people haven't felt blessed in ages past - just that the use of the specific words, "i feel blessed," is pretty new.)
the good news is, people are saying that they feel blessed. the bad news is, only when something good happens.
i have yet to hear someone say, "i'm blessed because my kid is sick" or "my heart is broken - what a blessing." and that's a shame. a very big shame. because suffering is good. it is, well, a blessing. here's why:
the first reason why suffering is a blessing is because Christ says so. "blessed
are the poor in spirit, blessed are the persecuted, blessed are they who mourn, (and just in case any of those examples go over the top your head....) blessed are they that suffer...."
for those of you (and there are plenty) who need a better reason than "because Christ said so," there's the simple fact that, well, He's right.
i have suffered for 2 and a half years - actually a little more than that now - in a way that i never dreamed i would suffer. in a way that has boggled my mind ever since my nightmare began and which, by the way, has boggled the mind of every. single. person. to. whom. i. have. told. my. story. nobody can believe the kind of suffering i have, well, suffered. least of all, me.
people want me to be angry - and i have been. still am on more than just an occasional basis (but i'm working on that).
my friends want to "posse up" and go shoot him in his sorry ass. (believe me, it's been tempting. except that we can't find him - that's part of the boggling part of the story. but i digress.)
others want me to take him to the cleaners, milk him for all it's worth, and let. justice. be. served. (and i fully intend to!)
but i also fully intend - no, intend is not the right word. intend implies something that hasn't happened yet, but this has happened........i fully quote unquote intend to be (but i already am) grateful for the suffering. i. am. grateful. for. the. suffering.
i have become, through this real-life torture, the person that - far as i can tell - God has wanted me to be all along. except i was too busy feeling "blessed" by the good stuff to see that the good stuff was hiding the bad stuff, which would lead, by God's design, to the better stuff. the blessed stuff.
buddha said that "life is suffering."
Christ said, "blessed are they who suffer."
wow. see the difference?
rejoice in your pain.
you are blessed to be stressed.
