Redefining #Blessed

"Check out the new ride! #blessed"

"6-month anniversary dinner with bae! #blessed"

"Shopping.  #blessed"

"Committed to ..... University #blessed"

If you search Twitter or Instagram for #blessed, you will see everything ranging from selfies with friends, to food, to college commitments, to brand new cars.  Our culture seems to have a pretty consistent definition of what it means to be #blessed.  Unless I'm drastically mis-reading the millions of tweets and millions of pictures posted using this hashtag, #blessed seems to mean that you have what you want and/or need in life-- that you are happy.  However, if we dig a little deeper through the hashtags, if we look past the filters and the perfect lighting, is this really happiness?  Is this really contentment?  Or are we really searching for something so much deeper to fill the void that the #blessings have left gaping and empty?

I think that this is where society's definition of #blessed could use some refining and some redefining.  I was reading this morning in James 1, and I came across a verse that I couldn't shake.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. - James 1:12 (ESV)

Another translation (HCSB) says:

A man who endures trials is blessed, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Did you catch that?!  Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial.  If we are #blessed, by the world's definition, we shouldn't be facing a trial or a test in the first place, much less have to endure it.

Can you imagine these tweets?

"I was diagnosed with cancer today. #blessed"

"My husband wants a divorce. #blessed"

"I am drowning in a pit of depression.  #blessed"

Using the worldly definition of #blessed, we would think of these people as heartless or uncaring for celebrating things like this.  However, God so clearly clarifies that being blessed is not a matter of circumstances or having the "good" things in life.  No, on the contrary, being blessed is about knowing the One from whom all blessings flow.  (For further re-defining of #blessed check Matthew 5!)

James begins this same chapter with a similar exhortation to his readers:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing. - James 1:2 - 4

I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly used to seeing joy and trials in the same sentence.  To our worldly minds, it doesn't even make sense.  How can I be joyful in the midst of a storm?  James provides us with an answer to that question.  We can be joyful because we know that the testing of our faith is what strengthens it and draws us closer into the heart of God.

A wise pastor friend of mine says that all people are in one of three places.  He says that you are either in the middle of a storm now, you've just come out of a storm, or you're about to go through the storm.

As we face happiness and as we face storms, let's remember the One from whom all blessings flow, and let's remember just how truly #blessed we are.

-KG