Blessed Are....

As I spoke with my neighbor yesterday, I made the comment that when I think about watching my Momma and my husband's mom getting seemingly weaker as each day passes, I get very weak inside and grieve.  It is then that I must look up to Father God and cry out for help just to get the things I need to accomplish finished.  Later the same day I was talking with one of my sisters.  She reminded me that we have eternity with them and it brought a smile to my face.  I admitted to her that I found letting family in Christ go was easier than watching them suffer in the transition.  She agreed.  Knowing that our moms will spend eternity with Christ doesn't make the suffering here any easier to bear, but it does make the thought of its eternal reward quite joyous and even brings a sigh of relief to my spirit man.
Lest anyone get the idea that either of us wishes them gone, that is not anywhere near the case.  Our selfish side wants them to remain here with us as long as we can possibly have them.  I know that I feel I still need their advice and wisdom to guide me and probably always will.  We were simply in agreement that, though it brings us heavy grief and longing for them when they are gone,  we know they will be healthy and happy and no longer in any kind of pain as they wait for us to join them, because they too are children of the King. 

Trusting Christ doesn't mean we suffer less.  A simple quote found on page 365 of If God Is Good.....Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil.  It is almost humorous to me that this statement even need be written.  When studying the things Jesus had to say to us regarding suffering, it almost appears to me that we are promised more.  The beatitudes found in Matthew 5:3-10 seem to me to make it pretty clear:

The Beatitudes

He said:
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.

vs.3 - Here, "poor" is translated from ptochos, which literally means "to crouch or cower as one helpless." It signifies the beggar, the pauper, one in abject poverty, totally dependent on others for help and destitute of even the necessities of life. (Bible Tools)

vs.4 - we mourn many things, including our personal losses, losses of those around us, world-wide losses such as those in a hurricane, sin in our lives and those we love and the list goes on.  We don't have more to grieve, we simply recognize more of the things that needing grieving over.

vs.5 - Meekness is patience in the reception of injuries, the reception of injuries with a belief that God will vindicate us, and produces peace.  (Barnes notes on the Bible)

vs.6 - The more we get to know Him, the more we want of Him, so our hunger and thirst grows in direct proportion to how much we are fed by Him.  In order to be fed we must want to be and cry out to Him as a baby bird cries to its mother.  They do not stop until they are satisfied.  As they grow, they need more and cry louder still.  This should be us.

vs.7 - In order to give mercy, we must have received a wrong. 

vs.8 - Being pure in heart is a daily battle, where fears, pride, prejudices, anger, jealousies and more all try to rush in not even daily, but moment by moment.

vs.9 - If we are to be peacemakers, we must be in the middle of the battle.  Those who sit on the outskirts are ignored.  It is the one who jumps in the middle, refuses to be ruffled, is willing to give their all that is listened to, but sometimes it means literally giving our all in order to be truly heard.

vs.10 - Persecuted - this is the one we try so very hard to hide from.  We don't want ridicule, hatred, lies told about us, injury or any other form of physical, mental or spiritual anguish.  We try to avoid it at all costs, yet hasn't Jesus made it clear in all the above verses that we will suffer in one way or another?  So why not for righteousness?

With all these marvelous promises of suffering, why would anyone choose Jesus?  Because He didn't stop with the pain of suffering.  We may have temporary pain and suffering now, but all of it works toward our spiritual growth, maturing and ends with our receiving the greatest gift of all - eternity with Him!!  When we look closely at each verse we see the promise of eternity in every situation.  The kingdom of heaven is ours now - in our spirits - and for all eternity.  Comfort, satisfaction, mercy, a name (each of His children is given one), heaven and earth are ours forever as they shall become one in perfect unity and we shall dwell in them AND best of all, WE WILL SEE GOD!!  This promise of seeing God is not simply futuristic, though its completion is. We get to see Him now through the eyes and actions of brothers and sisters in Christ, the miracles we witness on a daily basis (though I am convinced we overlook the majority of them), in creation and in our very own lives as He works to do His will in us.

There is an old song that asks the question, "Why do you serve the Lord?  Is it just for heavens gain or to walk those mighty streets of gold, or to hear the angels sing?  Is it just to drink from the fountain that never runs dry, or just to live forever, ever and ever in that sweet by and by?"  I absolutely love the answer, because it is so extremely true: "But if heaven never were promised to me, neither God's promise to live eternally, it's been worth just having the Lord in my life.  I was living in a world of darkness and He brought me the light.  You know He's been my closest Friend down through the years, and when I cry He dries all my tears.  Yes, it's been worth just having the Lord in my life, cause I was living in a world of darkness and he brought me the light."

Jesus is the Light that opens our eyes to see the suffering that we had overlooked before, gives us a heart that cries out to Him for help for each situation, helps us see our own hurt and need and delivers us from the evil that would consume us in grief, destroy us in anguish and despair and delivers us hope and victory.  The wonder of it all is that He didn't stop there.  He could have, but He loved us so much that He also offers us eternal life with Him.  He will not force us to choose life, but He does cry out for us to do so.