Summer Break Encore: "Blessed and Highly Favored"
(c) Deborah Evans
While I take a short summer break from the blog, I'm re-posting some of the most popular (based on views) posts. I hope you'll enjoy this one. I'll be back in early September. --DE
Originally published in November of 2012.
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I used to speak regularly with someone who often declared herself to be "blessed and highly favored." When I telephoned her and would ask "how are you doing"? or "how is it going with you"?, the instant answer was always "I am blessed and highly favored!" Her answer came too quickly, almost as if no thought went into the response.
I understand what many people teach about speaking only those words that reflect the reality you wish to experience. I think I have a least a little bit of understanding regarding why this type of thinking is so popular. I am not sure it's a good idea, or even biblical, but it is popular.
I suppose we all like to think we are blessed of the Lord, but what does it mean to be highly favored?
I reflect upon two persons from Scripture (Mary, Jesus' mother and the Apostle Paul) I would consider to be "blessed and highly favored" of the Lord, but their lives were challenging, often difficult, no doubt spiritually powerful, and filled with joyful heights and incredible lows. These are not lives I would choose for myself. Would you?
Many people (including myself) consider Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be a woman blessed and highly favored. In her beautiful song in the first chapter of the Book of Luke, Mary states that all generations will call her blessed:
( starting at verse 46) And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
This song is a beautiful affirmation of God's goodness and love, despite the circumstances of daily life and the pressures of history.
All generations of many Christian traditions have called Mary blessed. Some have elevated her to near-Godhood (not a good thing), but she remains a key figure in Scripture. You cannot understand salvation or the Incarnation without respecting Mary's role in God's work in the Earth.
Still, let's look at the facts of Mary's life: a single mother, who risked losing her engagement to an honest, honorable man because she accepted God's will in her life; the parent of a difficult---note the youthful Jesus' decision to remain in Jerusalem when his Earthly parents returned to their home -- and "different" child; watching this adult child experience extreme success and extreme political failure and then suffer an excruciating, execution style death; being handed over (by that son) to the care of one of His friends (John, the beloved apostle); worshiping with her son's disciples (see Acts Chapter 1) after His ascension, knowing she would never see Him again on earth; in a sense losing Him a second time.
Yes, it was a great life. But it was a roller coaster ride I doubt many of us would sign up for.
To be "blessed and highly favored" suggests the willingness and openness to live whatever life God choses to offer us. This does not always mean success, popularity, prosperity, or wellness. It can and often does mean those things, but it could as easily mean the opposite. I have no doubt that some of the most highly "blessed and favored" people live in obscurity, and struggle with deep spiritual challenges. Their lives are powerful witnesses of God's glory and power in the "ugly places" of life.
Yes, I would like to consider myself as blessed of the Lord. But in the end, I think that's someone else's call, and not mine. I will be content to hear these words at the end: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." --Matthew25:34.
I understand what many people teach about speaking only those words that reflect the reality you wish to experience. I think I have a least a little bit of understanding regarding why this type of thinking is so popular. I am not sure it's a good idea, or even biblical, but it is popular.
I suppose we all like to think we are blessed of the Lord, but what does it mean to be highly favored?
I reflect upon two persons from Scripture (Mary, Jesus' mother and the Apostle Paul) I would consider to be "blessed and highly favored" of the Lord, but their lives were challenging, often difficult, no doubt spiritually powerful, and filled with joyful heights and incredible lows. These are not lives I would choose for myself. Would you?
Many people (including myself) consider Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be a woman blessed and highly favored. In her beautiful song in the first chapter of the Book of Luke, Mary states that all generations will call her blessed:
( starting at verse 46) And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
This song is a beautiful affirmation of God's goodness and love, despite the circumstances of daily life and the pressures of history.
All generations of many Christian traditions have called Mary blessed. Some have elevated her to near-Godhood (not a good thing), but she remains a key figure in Scripture. You cannot understand salvation or the Incarnation without respecting Mary's role in God's work in the Earth.
Still, let's look at the facts of Mary's life: a single mother, who risked losing her engagement to an honest, honorable man because she accepted God's will in her life; the parent of a difficult---note the youthful Jesus' decision to remain in Jerusalem when his Earthly parents returned to their home -- and "different" child; watching this adult child experience extreme success and extreme political failure and then suffer an excruciating, execution style death; being handed over (by that son) to the care of one of His friends (John, the beloved apostle); worshiping with her son's disciples (see Acts Chapter 1) after His ascension, knowing she would never see Him again on earth; in a sense losing Him a second time.
Yes, it was a great life. But it was a roller coaster ride I doubt many of us would sign up for.
To be "blessed and highly favored" suggests the willingness and openness to live whatever life God choses to offer us. This does not always mean success, popularity, prosperity, or wellness. It can and often does mean those things, but it could as easily mean the opposite. I have no doubt that some of the most highly "blessed and favored" people live in obscurity, and struggle with deep spiritual challenges. Their lives are powerful witnesses of God's glory and power in the "ugly places" of life.
Yes, I would like to consider myself as blessed of the Lord. But in the end, I think that's someone else's call, and not mine. I will be content to hear these words at the end: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." --Matthew25:34.
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