By Lonjezo T. Chipofya
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Psalm 32:1
For a long time, I believed that a blessing is only that which can be seen or that which I can touch with my hands - having food on the table, a steady income, good health, children, a car, good education, a spouse or a nice house. Growing up, my parents made sure that I understood that attaining a good education was the utmost thing I had to work hard for and focus on. Going to a university and getting a good job was sort of the whole point of my life. My faith was important, but doing well in school was far more important than anything else. A good education was going to be the source of all good things including my happiness and “blessedness.” With it, I would get a decent job, a nice car, a house, and probably a decent husband too.
In a world where our satisfaction and approval are merely based on what we see and how we feel, we tend to say we are blessed when things in this world move or happen in our favor. Blessings are seen as the things that make us happy, outstanding, and any possession of material things can be seen as a blessing. While taking into consideration that attaining and having things that make our lives comfortable is good; we want to understand a true meaning of being blessed.
As Christians, we believe beyond what we can see and witness on this earth. We are pilgrims and this world is not our home, according to Hebrews 13:14. To get comfortable and settle all our efforts and faith in the things of this world is to miss the whole point of the foundation of our faith (1 John 2:15-17). All the good things we have in this world, whether it’s a good marriage, children, a good job and academic attainments, as well as all the other accomplishments are nothing but the tip of the iceberg of what it means for one to be blessed. In the 32nd Psalm verse 1, David clearly describes to us what it means for a man or woman to consider themselves blessed.
When I sit back and look at all the things that I have achieved within the short time that I have lived on this earth, I get tempted to say and believe that based on that alone I am truly blessed. A good education, a husband, children, and other things which seem important. Yet there is still a strong feeling of emptiness that comes along with that thought. It is only when I remember that I am fully accepted by God, not because of my merits and achievements, but because of the finished work of our LORD Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary is when I get the full assurance of my blessed state.
I have slowly learnt that the joy of the LORD and true blessedness is knowing who I am because of what God has done for me. The state of true blessedness is not my outward accomplishments. The state of true blessedness stems from me being content within. It rests on our faith and dependence on God through the finished work of Jesus Christ. We cannot call ourselves blessed when our eyes are only focused on what we have accomplished or achieved. What we have attained on this earth and what our eyes can see is passing away. As King Solomon said, “all is vanity”. It will not last forever. Our eyes must be focused on the heavenly blessings.
No person is blessed without God. Being blessed has everything to do with our faith in God. Our wholehearted submission and dependence on His will, and not of ourselves. Our faith in God is the hope for the things we cannot see, if our blessedness was only based on tangible things, it would not give us the comfort and assurance we need.
Through His son Jesus, God has manifested the true state of blessedness for mankind.
It is a common misconception to believe that being blessed entails happiness or absence of pain and difficulties (Matt 5:10-11). The blessed Son of God suffered in our place. A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Our reaction to trying times or pain says a lot about our what we believe being blessed to be.
The psalmist says several times that blessed is the man who trusts in God in both good and bad times because they believe in God’s sovereignty over all things. They have faith in God’s faithfulness and unchanging nature. They know that no matter what befalls them on this earth, God has already blessed them with an eternal gift which cannot be taken away.
We are blessed not because of what we have; what we have done or what we have not done, but because of what God has done and continues to do in our hearts.
We cannot be considered blessed unless we have put our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ and have trusted Him for the propitiation of our sins. And I have learnt that this is the truth that I must impart to my children whilst they are still young so that they grow cherishing eternal gifts above all others. As a parent, I do not want my children to miss the bigger picture of what a true blessed man or woman looks like. I want them to walk by faith, and to walk in repentance because that is what blessedness looks like. Being blessed beyond measure is to understand that Jesus is our only treasure.
Lonjezo is a wife to Victor Chipofya, Jr and a mother of two boys. She enjoys teaching children, reading, writing as well as arts and crafts.
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