PreachTeach: Blog by Erica

When it rains, it pours.  That’s the adage, isn’t it?  Something everyone says when you have a bad day.

Some days are more than just “bad.” Some days are hard.  Some days you get news that rocks your world.  That hits you in the face, and even spits on you. Some days continue to some weeks, to some months.  Some things just leave you completely stranded and at the end of your rope.

Been there?  I have.  There are moments where I still see myself there- stuck at the bottom, reaching for something to grab, something to gain leverage and to pull myself up.

Then, one night my husband said to me, “Read this!”  It was Matthew 5, from the Message Bible.

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

“You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

“Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

-Matthew 5: 3-12

Blessed?  Me?  Down here, in the crap pile of despair, of fear, of grief?  Yes.  I am Blessed.

That passage paints a picture so clearly for me; that the rope I need to grab onto, the leverage I need, is the hand of Jesus.  I’m grabbing and I’m holding on tight.

Even though it may be dark where I am, or where you are, grab on!  There is light, HE is the light.  I am blessed.  You are blessed.  We will not stay down here, soaking wet and alone.  If we let him, if we open our eyes, we will feel His love, His care, His ever warming embrace.

I’m thankful to be reminded that even though I may be shattered and imperfect, I am blessed.  I am ready to start climbing back up that rope.  Are you?

XO- Erica