By Jake Thurston
If you’re a frequent social media user, chances are you’ve stumbled across the hashtag #blessed before. #Blessed is an internet sensation for anyone to proclaim the great things they have going for them for the entire world to see. There are over 118 million #blessed posts on Instagram alone, showcasing people's great friends and families, new cars, pizza, porta potties, and individually wrapped butter packages (Seriously. Some of the things people claim to be #blessed with are ridiculous). The examples are endless.
Despite most people's good intentions, this simple hashtag actually reveals a construed reality of the human heart. This is because, more often than not, #blessed really means #bragging.
“I’m so blessed to be with friends who love me.”
“I’m so blessed to have a home.”
“I’m so blessed it’s fishing season, that my coffee is hot, that my bed is warm.”
“I’m so blessed by how good I've got it…. And I want everyone else to know about it.”
Acknowledging how blessed we are isn’t the issue. But perhaps using social media platforms to broadcast our blessings is a humble way to brag about how good we do have it.
But could you ever imagine going on Instagram and making a post with the caption, “My life is falling apart, and I’m so discouraged. #blessed”? Sounds absurd, right? But what if I tell you that a post like that is something that would trend in the Kingdom of God as #blessed?
In Matthew 5:3-12, Jesus opens up his sermon on the mount with a section of Scripture known as “The Beatitudes.” These are short, pithy statements about what it means to be supremely blessed or happy. But the irony in all these statements is what Jesus claims to be #blessed go completely against what our culture would claim to be #blessed.
Here’s what he says:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:3-12)
Notice Jesus never says, “Blessed are you who get everything you want,” “Blessed are you who have a simple and easy life,” or “Blessed are you who get the most likes on social media.” He’s saying if you are poor in spirit, mourning, meek, pursuing righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, making peace, and suffer because of your righteousness, then that is what makes you #blessed. It completely contradicts our culture’s definition of blessedness.
But perhaps the issue in all this is that our definition of blessedness is upside-down. Jesus came to earth to make everything right again, flip our cultures' values on their heads, and put his Kingdom’s values rightside-up. Where culture says blessedness is about how good you’ve got it, Jesus says blessedness is about how good you’re becoming.
By all means, God is the deliverer of all things good. We should praise him and thank him for the blessings he does give us. But the truest blessings are often found not in the things that make us happy, but in the things that make us good. Even when your entire life is falling apart and nothing seems good, you can still become good through it all. You can still become holy like your heavenly Father is holy. You can become a stronger person because of God's goodness working in you—even if it seems like nothing good is happening on the surface.
Ironically, it’s often our most unblessed moments God uses to make us good. Have you ever noticed that? It is the times of embarrassment, failure, disappointment, heartache, anger, doubt, frustration, and confusion that drive us to our knees, cry out to the Lord out of the poorness of our spirit to bring healing, redemption, and progress to our life. If it weren’t for our obstacles, we would never grow.
In this life filled with unblessedness, Christ promises that he will walk alongside us through it all. It is the moments when we pause long enough to rely on him in our unblessedness that actually make us good. So here’s the question:
How is Christ making you “good” through your unblessedness?
Whatever your answer is to that question is what Jesus calls #blessed.
