Blessings Everywhere

The power of a God-attentive life means that my perspective has been transformed to see God's grace and strength in every aspect of my life, both good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant.

You’ve met people like this before. You know the ones that I mean. They are the folks who seem to always have a comeback for anything you say. “It’s a cloudy day today.” “Yes, but the sun will be shining soon.”

They are so positive, it makes you wonder about their ability to deal with reality.

Of course, you’ve met these folks’ opposites too. I call that the “Eeyore” syndrome.

You know who I mean. “What a beautiful day!” “Yeah, but it’ll probably rain later.

These types of people get under my skin because they strike me as inauthentic, or at least unable to be honest about life!

Either end of the spectrum leads to the fantasy of elation or despondency, and real wisdom always lies in the sober escape from both extremes and the embrace of a sober joy that forms an invincible peace inside you even when outward circumstances are chaotic.

The sober life allows me to see “the blessing” in any circumstance or trial!

Wait, that sounds like a Normal Orthodox life! ;-)

Just look at our Lesson today in Isaiah 65:8-16:

Thus says the LORD: “As the wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all. I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah inheritors of my mountains; my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me. But you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny; I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter; because, when I called, you did not answer, when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes, and chose what I did not delight in.” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame; behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart, and shall wail for anguish of spirit. You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but his servants he will call by a different name. So that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hid from my eyes.

St. Isaiah is dealing with a nation that was supposed to be the example to the whole world of a nation that put God first, followed God’s wisdom, and shared God’s light with everyone.

But it certainly didn’t turn out that way for the nation of Israel of Isaiah’s day.

The nation had become complacent, and their devotion to God was more lip service and “good intentions” rather than practicing the faith. So God spoke to Isaiah and told him to tell the people the truth.

And that wasn’t all that pleasant a job, let me tell you!

But Isaiah was faithful and declared the reality of their unfaithfulness. Since the truth was meant to sober them up and make them deal with reality, the message was both good and bad.

The Good News was that God wouldn’t wipe out the nation for their unfaithfulness, but that He would find those few who were genuinely committed to the reality of the Faith and bless them! He would preserve them because they were equipped, formed, and committed to a God-attentive life. They are preserved. They were prepared for whatever life threw at them BECAUSE they were ready to see “the blessing” in anything life brought them!

The Bad News was that the others, the majority, weren’t going to fare so well. In the end, it was going to be abundantly clear who was the wise person and who was the foolish person. The foolish person would see the challenges God allows as some sort of punishment because they were not ready to deal with the consequences of their shallow living. They were not wise enough to be trained by wisdom to handle life’s ups and downs. So, they were set to learn the power of consistent God-attentive living the hard way!

During Decius's reign as Emperor of Rome, St. Terence and his 40 companions contested for Christ. These African saints were confronted with a choice: sacrifice to the pagan gods or die for their Faith in Jesus. The governor of Carthage, Fortunianas, ordered the city to gather at a pagan temple and offer sacrifices to the gods. He set out horrible instruments of torture to intimidate the populace. Many succumbed to the fear of torture and death, but Terence and his companions refused, even mocking the idols as false gods and declaring their devotion to Christ. Despite torture and mistreatment, Terence and his companions were solid in their faith in Jesus, so the governor had them all beheaded for their Faith. These heroes realized there was a blessing hidden in their torment and a peace that strengthened their hearts to face whatever came their way.

Today, are you tempted by the extremes of life? Do you find your life gripped by the illusion of elation or despondency? Just know that both of these extremes are fantasies. They aren’t real. What is real is the sober realization that the only life with “a blessing in it” is the life that rightly prioritizes faith first so that the rest of life makes sense! It’s why living a Normal Orthodox life is the first job of any believer.

P.S. All the powers of Heaven were awestruck and amazed at the achievements and deeds of the holy Martyrs of Christ; for contending well in mortal bodies clothed with flesh, they overcame the fleshless foe by the power of the Cross and invisibly subdued him. And now they pray to the Lord, that He might bestow His mercy on our souls.

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouraged