Day 2: Promise #2: My Blessing Is On You.

“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” Luke 1:45

Two aspects of Luke 1:45 are surprising: The nature of belief and the nature of blessing.

Consider first the nature of belief. Luke 1:26-38 records the angel Gabriel prophesying to Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God. Mary’s immediate response is, “How will this be?” (v. 34). Shortly after this encounter, Elizabeth commends Mary for her faith (v. 45).

One of the most comforting parts of this story is that Mary’s faith—which God commends through Elizabeth—included questions. Embedded in God’s commendation is the assurance that faith and questions aren’t mutually exclusive.

Asking God, “Why?” is not necessarily evidence of lacking faith (Matt. 27:46). In fact, bringing our questions to God indicates faith is present! According to Luke 1, true faith is not questionless faith. True faith, rather, brings questions to God—and trusts his goodness even before he answers.

God doesn’t fault his people for not knowing his unrevealed will, nor does he condemn sufferers for having questions or being confused. God isn’t playing games with us to see if we can guess his hidden purposes for our suffering. The fact that a suffering Christian doesn’t know why God allowed a certain hardship doesn’t mean she’s doing something wrong. It means she’s not God.

A second peculiarity of this verse is the circumstances in which God’s blessing is pronounced. Mary was about to enter into a season of difficulty and countless unknowns. Would her family disown her (or worse) for being pregnant out of wedlock? Would Joseph divorce her? Would anyone believe her testimony about the angel’s message? Would she mess up this matchless privilege that God was entrusting to her?

We don’t typically describe people living in seasons of unknown as “blessed.” Yet this is precisely how Mary is described. What, then, is the nature of this blessing?

Two Misconceptions of Blessing

Believers often fall into one of two ditches when grappling with the relationship between hardship and God’s blessing.

Perhaps the most common ditch is believing hardship is a sign that God’s blessing has been removed (or is being withheld) from us. This notion is contrary to the life and teachings of Christ, who himself suffered and promised suffering for his people (John 16:33).

A second ditch—more common in legalistic circles—is the notion that suffering is purely a blessing from God—a gift for which we should only rejoice. Any whiff of lament or discontentment from a sufferer is immediately condemned as sinful.

The first ditch says suffering cannot be a blessing; the second says it’s only a blessing. The first ditch only grieves; the second ditch forbids grief.

The Bible refuses to paint broad brush strokes or slap clichés on the relationship between suffering and blessing. It is far more nuanced. It affirms the value of suffering without conflating it with God’s blessing.

Biblically, suffering is a consequence of the Fall, something that God “does not enjoy” (Lam. 3:33). Yet God, in his unfathomable wisdom and power, uses suffering to bless his people, especially by drawing them nearer to himself. All things, including suffering, will eventually return abundant blessing to God’s people, whether in this life or the next (Rom. 8:28-29; 2 Cor. 4:17-18).

Ultimately, Mary was blessed because she had Jesus inside her. Nearness to Christ—which often comes through suffering—is the greatest blessing for which our souls were created. Through faith, all believers get to experience the same intimate union with Jesus as Mary did and are therefore “blessed” (Eph. 1:3). And one day, our blessing will be divorced from suffering forever (Rev. 21:4).

Reflection question: Which misconception of blessing are you more prone to believe? Why do you think that is? What can we learn about the true nature of blessing from Christ’s life and teachings?