I was reading the Beatitudes today, and it struck me that the blessing of which Jesus speaks is dissatisfaction with this world. God blesses us with the realization of our poverty of spirit. God blesses us with hearts broken over the fallen condition of our world. Meekness is a blessing from God. Hunger and thirst for righteousness we lack is a gift.
These, along with the rest of the beatitudes, are blessings because it means we know what glory awaits us. We will ultimately know the riches of our union with Christ. We will, one day, experience fullness of strength. We will reign with him. We will be satisfied in him. One day.
We will experience tastes of strength and satisfaction now, but much of the Christian life is longing. This longing keeps us hoping and waiting for God to bring the story to its consummation. The longing keeps us relying on him to get us to that consummation. The longing is the blessing because it means we know the longing will be fulfilled. We need not run to the conventions of self-medication that numb the world to harsh realities. The longing is good, and satisfaction is coming.
Gary Todd Wallace
Meanderings 