The blessing of God"s presence

“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.”- Matthew 5:4 (The Message)

In surprising ways, suffering makes room in our spirit for us to know and experience the blessing of God’s peace and presence.”- Kyle Idleman

Kyle Idleman continues his discussion of Matthew 5:4 in Chapter 2 of The End of Me by asserting that we can’t know God’s comfort without experiencing suffering.  When we mourn, then, we experience the blessing of God’s presence.  Pastor Idleman explains what we find in our suffering:

“There is a deep void that used to be filled with whatever we lost.  That could be stuff or even relationships- none of which are bad things.  But when it’s gone it leaves an aching cavity, and God is there to fill it up with himself.”

Coming to the end of Me enables you to experience the blessing of God’s presence as you never have before.  While wonderful things have been embraced and lost in life, Kyle encourages us that there is no embrace like God’s embrace.  God will not waste your pain, and He most certainly will not leave you alone.

Today’s question: As you mourn your ministry downsizing or vocation loss,  how have you experienced God’s blessing as never before?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the Thanksgiving Short Meditation, “Thanksliving”

The blessing of God"s presence

Heartache and shattered dreams

In Chapter 2 of The End of Me, Kyle Idleman takes a closer look at the context for the Sermon on the Mount, noting the word Matthew uses for crowd really means “a large group of unidentified people.”  Over Kyle’s years as a public speaker, he has learned something about large groups of unidentified people: they are crammed with stories of heartache and shattered dreams.  Pastor Idleman quips even a convention of department-store Santas would serve as a gathering of sad stories.

Jesus spoke the words “blessed are those who mourn” (Matthew 5:4) in a first-century age of infant mortality, short life spans, hunger, disease, and national humiliation.  A significant percentage of Jesus’ audience on that mountain were “those who mourn.”  As Pastor Idleman adds, no one in the audience stepped forward to testify, “Yes sir!  Mourning rules!”

Kyle previously has stated that Jesus was speaking in paradoxes, but it seems like “blessed are those who mourn” crosses the line from paradox territory to Ludicrous-ville or Contradiction-land.  How can the sad possibly be happy?

A nice start, Kyle offers, would be to come to an understanding of what Jesus is thinking when He uses the word mourn.  In the next blog Kyle discusses mourning the true circumstances of life, defined as “dream busters that awaken us at the worst time.”

Today’s question: What Bible verses bring you the greatest comfort following your vocation loss?  Please share.

Coming Monday:  the Thanksgiving Short Meditation, “Thanksliving”

Tomorrow’s blog: “Blessing comes from the inside”

Heartache and shattered dreams