Blessed Like No Other

I’ve heard lots of people complain about negative things that happen to them and heard them ask why something bad happened to them when they were basically “good” people. I don’t think they fully understand God’s blessings. God’s blessings are amazingly good, but they aren’t necessarily what we think they are or what we might ask for.

Now lets look at the woman who is considered the most blessed in history.

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:26-28)

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is called the favored one. She is the most blessed of all. After she conceived of the Holy Spirit, she went to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who was also pregnant.

Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” (Luke 1:39-45)

Mary was called blessed among women, her child was called blessed, and she was called blessed for believing the Angel who prophesied her pregnancy despite the fact that she had never “known” a man. You could argue that she was the most blessed woman of all time because she was the mother of Jesus making her the physical mother of God.

Although looking at her life from the outside, most people would not call her blessed. She was impregnated by the Holy Spirit, not a man, so the people around her thought she was guilty of adultery and that she was an immoral woman. Her husband (fiance in modern terms, but in that day it was treated as married and a legal contract) almost divorced her. Although not mentioned explicitly, textual evidence suggests her husband died early, leaving her a widow possibly even with multiple kids at home. Her eldest son was crucified and died a most horrific, embarrassing, and cruel death in front of her. Based on Jesus asking His apostle John to take care of His mother, it suggests her other sons were not doing their duty to provide for their widowed mother.

Does this sound like a blessing? Most people would say, “No,” but the Bible calls her blessed. Why is that?

Mary was used of God to fulfill His awesome purpose and to provide salvation to people around the world and throughout time. Mary was a part of this work and is honored for allowing herself to be used in this way. This is a blessing. She got to spend 33 years with the creator of the world. She got to hear His wisdom. She had the best behaved child in history. Yes, she was truly blessed and I believe she knew she was blessed.

So often in life we complain about the hardships in our life. We complain that things aren’t fair. Instead, we need to look and see what God is doing and join Him. We need to study God’s word, obey His command, and love others. When we are fully immersed in His will and His plan, we won’t hardly notice all the incumbent hardships that almost always come with a life fully devoted to God.

A Godly life isn’t an easy life, but it is a blessed life.

Go, and be blessed by God.

Trust Jesus.

Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated