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How To Deal With Life – How To View Life’s Blessings
Whenever you think of challenging situations you will have to navigate in this life, your blessings are likely not on the top of your list. Instead, you are more likely to consider the trials, temptations, persecutions, discouragements, etc. of life. However, Satan can use the blessings God provides you in this life to lure you away from truly seeking God. Therefore, you must learn to view life’s blessings properly.
James 1:13-18
Whenever you go through any trial (test), understand that God is not the source of anything that pulls you in the wrong direction. Instead, such temptations are of Satan (1 Peter 5:8-9; Matthew 4:1-11) and happen due to your fleshly desires. Therefore, you must not be deceived to think God is enticing you to do wrong; but recognize He is the source of everything truly good and perfect! When you think about anything in your life that is truly good and perfect, you must recognize God as the origin! Sadly, it can be tempting for people to credit something or someone else for what God has given them. Furthermore, while crediting other sources for their blessings, they will then quickly blame God whenever bad things happen. But, this must never be! Instead, you should learn to blame Satan and sin for the evil and pain of life (Genesis 3) and “blame” God for the good and perfect things! This should especially include the blessing of eternal salvation provided through Jesus Christ (John 3:16; Romans 1:16)!
Luke 17:11-19
Being a leper was a terrible fate in Jesus’s day. Not only was it a skin disease (that varied in severity), but it also made someone a social outcast (Leviticus 13). Yet, on this occasion, Jesus gave ten lepers the tremendous blessing of being healed from their disease! Sadly, only one returned to thank Jesus and worship Him for the new lease on life Jesus had given. Similarly, it can be easy for people to beg God for all sorts of blessings in life. Then, when God does bless them, they quickly forget the Source of their blessings and use them in selfish ways. Instead, we must learn to be truly grateful for however God has blessed us (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; Ephesians 5:20). Then, God’s goodness should also result in our coming to Him in humble worship and service (Psalm 100:1-5)!
Deuteronomy 8:11-20
When God pours out blessings on people, this passage demonstrates the potential obstacle of forgetting God. Although the blessings He provides ought to make you thankful and dependent on Him, people often credit themselves (e.g. their own skill, ability, knowledge, etc.) for the blessings they have and indulge in the physical blessings to the point they forget to obey God’s commands. In fact, the very things God provides as blessings can become distractions and be used to pull people away from Him (e.g. becoming complacent, misusing the blessings in sinful ways, and pursuing other ways to indulge self). Therefore, you must fight diligently to remain humbly thankful to God for everything He has provided and use them to remind you to love and serve God faithfully (Romans 2:3-4)!
Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
While guarding against the ways God’s blessings can be abused, you should also enjoy the blessings He gives. This world is full of trouble, sorrow, and pain (Psalm 90:10; Ecclesiastes 2:18-23). Still, among the challenges of life, God provides blessings and moments that can and should be enjoyed in godly ways. The writer of Ecclesiastes regularly demonstrated the emptiness of seeking satisfaction and fulfillment through things that happen in this life (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11; 2:1-11). However, although the pleasures of this life must not be confused with the true purpose of life (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14), it is appropriate for God’s people to enjoy the blessings from God’s hand (Ecclesiastes 3:22; 5:18-20)! These moments of laughter and pleasure can serve as moments of rest from the challenges and pain of life and are true blessings from God. Yet, they must never be thought of as anything more than temporary, so they do not distract from your true mission in life!
1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19
Although there are great difficulties that being wealthy presents in serving God and entering the kingdom of God (Luke 18:18-30), being wealthy and having many blessings from God is not wrong. Yet, no one should ever view godliness as a way to material gain (1 Timothy 6:3-5)! Instead, God wants each person to be content with whatever He blesses him/her with (Philippians 4:10-13). Even if the blessings from God are only the bare necessities of life (food and clothing), you must learn to be content with that! Although it is proper to enjoy the blessings from God in godly ways, you should also recognize the threat that desiring to be rich poses to your soul and the great damage it can bring to your life! Therefore, you must learn to be content and thankful for the blessings God has provided and not get swept up into the love and pursuit of those things (Luke 16:9-13). Instead, you must maintain fervent trust and depend on God rather than on those things that will not last (Luke 12:13-21). Then, you must not just use the blessings of God for your own enjoyment. Instead, you must view yourself as a steward (manager) of those blessings with the responsibility of being generous, doing what is good, and serving God and others with those things, seeing those things as truly belonging to God to be used in His service (Matthew 25:14-30; Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-37; Galatians 6:6-10)!
Conclusion
Life is full of both challenges and blessings. Although it may be easier to recognize the danger of life’s challenges, you must also recognize the challenge of life’s blessings. You must recognize that good things come from God and must be used in a way that truly glorifies Him. Don’t allow yourself to take credit for or become distracted by the blessings God gives!
Discipleship Questions
What is the source of every good and perfect thing?
Is God to blame for the evil and pain experienced in life?
What should God’s blessings lead us to do?
How can God’s blessings result in you forgetting God?
Why are the physical blessings God gives not to be confused with your true mission in life?
Is there a proper way to enjoy life’s blessings?
What are some dangers of desiring to have many physical blessings?
How should you learn to be content and view yourself as a manager of your blessings?
