The Blessed Life

In heaven, "blessing and honor and glory and dominion" will belong to the One seated on the throne and the Lamb forever!  It will be our final destination to "enter into the joy of the Lord" when we enter the presence of the Lord in glory.  But blessing is a difficult and troublesome word to translate from the Hebrew or Greek.  We might think of it as "happiness," but also one of fulfillment and inner joy.  Mother, now canonized, Teresa said, "True holiness consists in doing the will of God with a smile."  C. S. Lewis said, "Joy is the serious business of heaven," and we will all find our joy there and be blessed beyond measure.

Our blessings come from the ultimate source of blessing and all good things (cf. James 1:17)--God.  Man is on a frantic search for happiness or fulfillment in this life and will substitute anything but God's provision to bring him momentary thrills or an escape.  "There is no peace for the wicked." (cf. Isaiah 48:22; 57:21).   Materialism, wisdom, success, knowledge, sex, fame, power, and riches all fail to satisfy the soul according to Solomon, who tried them all.

The purpose of saying we are blessed instead of lucky or fortunate is that we attribute our welfare to God and are thanking Him.  How God measures blessing or happiness in His economy differs from the norms of this world.  The Beatitudes show the way to true blessing and this is in contradistinction to the ways of the world.  Christianity is countercultural!  The truly blessed people are those who have found God, know Him, and let Him use them to be a channel of blessing to others.  Those who bless others are the most blessed!  Let us not so seek to be blessed as to bless! John the Baptist is the epitome of success in God's economy; he realized that the way up is down!  that pride comes before a fall and that humility comes before promotion:  "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30, HCSB, emphasis added), 

Happiness is not the chasing of pots at ends of mythical rainbows, but something granted by the Spirit for our obedience and submission to His will; "But none of these things move me" (cf. Acts 20:24). It is not some will-o'-the-wisp either.   The whole world is on a made quest for happiness but it eludes them without knowing God.  Only Jesus can give us the "abundant life" He promised; "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11, KJV).  We are to first seek God and His righteousness, then it will be added (cf. Matt. 6:33).

What are we really looking for then?  Not some religious high or some momentary experience we can ride the rest of our lives, but to find purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in life.  The question should be: Are we getting what we want and expect out of our lives?  Are we satisfied and content?  Paul said that he had learned the secret of contentment in all situations (cf. Phil. 4:13) and that is something we can all relate to (he was under arrest when he wrote that). We will have Happiness with a capital H when we learn to abide in Christ.  This is one of the great commands of salvation:  come to Me; follow Me; abide in Me; know Me. love Me.  We must abide in Christ and show much fruit to glorify God, that's the secret right there:  living for something bigger than ourselves and that will outlast us, our calling from God to let Him use us for His glory.

Most people equate happiness with happenings or circumstances (this is superficial and depends on outward stimuli).  They don't realize they can be blessed or have inner joy through the trials and tribulations and all manner of adversity--they just bring new opportunities to learn about God and ourselves. We can rise above circumstances and live above the humdrum.  God's answer to happenstance is Providence and when we realize He's in control and fully orchestrates all details in our lives, we are at ease and can rest assured and be content wherever the chips may fall and whenever they are down; i.e., we are down on our "luck" so to speak (though this is an overused misnomer), because we will know that God is with us through it all.   ("And behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go," Gen. 28:15, RSV; cf. Isaiah 41:10).

In summation, Pascal said that our souls are like vacuums that only God can fill, and St. Augustine of Hippo said likewise that we are restless till we find our rest in God--we are made for Him and no substitute will do.   We are called to walk by faith (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7) but this is not some perpetual, religious high nor remembering some existential encounter or experience, but growing in our relationship and fellowship as we become intimate with God.    In closing, I'll quote the Christian student of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung:  "Emptiness is the primary problem of man."   Soli Deo Gloria!