Who is More Blessed?

Who is more blessed? Those who have much and never seem to “need” God for their material comforts, or those who look to Him hourly for their every single need?

The longer I ponder that, the more I think that these sweet Ecuadorian faces I have seen are much more blessed than we can ever imagine to be. They rely on the Father daily, for every need. They know that their every blessing is provided by their Heavenly Father.

Me…I forget. I have so much, more than I need. I don’t “need” Him like they do. I only need Him when something bad happens.  At least that is what I think. Actually, I don’t even realize how great my need for Him is because every possible necessary need I have is already met. He has provided many needs for me already. It is not that I don’t need Him like they do; the sad thing is that I don’t even realize it.

We, in America, have a government that is founded on Judeo-Christian principles. It is a sound economy, compared to others. We have great health care, compared to others. (Yes, we do!) But we only realize this when a job is lost, or we get a diagnosis we weren’t expecting. God’s faithful provision is on America, but I so easily forget the One who has provided all these things.

I only need Him when things don’t go as I had planned. Then I don’t praise Him for all that He has given me. Instead I ask Him why He has me where I am. Why is He allowing me to walk through this?

I don’t listen, so I don’t hear Him telling me, “I allow it because I love you. I allow it because you need to need Me. I allow it because you can’t do it all on your own. I allow it for reasons you will never know or understand.”

Those are hard words to hear, but it is what draws me to Him. And He knows that. So this “difficulty” is really a blessing. Just like these precious Ecuadorian people.

I believe that being “blessed” is all a state of mind.  It has to do with the state your mind is in, where it is focused, where it is fixed. Is your mind fixed on earthly or heavenly things? What is the source of your comfort? Is it material possessions or is it the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Before this year, I lived a life that lacked joy and thankfulness, I didn’t feel blessed. (See more in my post, Not Lucky but Blessed.) This year, I chose to see my life differently, the way the Lord intended, and nothing has changed about my life other than my perspective, my mindset.

I really believe being blessed is relative to the joy and thankfulness we have in our hearts. It comes down to our mindset. Whether you have a large home or live in a hut, have more food than you can eat or can barely feed your family, it all comes down to what you surrender to. I love this quote by Oswald Chambers that was in my devotional this week:

True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender.  ~Oswald Chambers, from My Utmost for His Highest

Do you think being blessed is relative to the condition of your heart or is it based on your circumstances? I would love to hear your thoughts.