Blessings in Vain?

               I’m contemplating the beautiful injustice that is my life.  No one has any right to the blessings that fill my life, not in a world this full of suffering and darkness.  I didn’t earn my freedom, security, health, or love.  I’m blessed over and over again by the sacrifices and kindnesses of others, and not nearly everyone in this world is as blessed as I am.  There is famine, disease, persecution and oppression.  There is child abuse, greed, and selfishness, and senseless violence.  While others live in terror, I live in peace.  While others hunger, I live in plenty, and though sometimes it is easy to feel guilty, I don’t accept the idea that to have while others have not is a sin, although to horde while others have not is a different story.

               Every time tragedy or heartbreak strikes a life around us, our automatic response is that something must be done in the name of that tragedy to ensure that the suffering will not have been in vain, that the darkness may not have the final victory. It may be the establishment of a memorial charity or the passing of a new law, or the creation of a national day of remembrance, or it may simply be a lesson learned, but something must change in our reality in response to horror and tragedy.  We can’t bear the thought of all that grief and destruction and waste being for nothing. But what about our good days?  What about our gifts, our joys, and our successes?  Do we worry enough about letting our happiness be in vain? 

               I think we’ve gotten in the habit of believing that peace, joy, safety, and prosperity are ends in themselves.  Once we have achieved these things, we win!  Good for us.  How might we win some more?     I remember though, a quote from scripture.  One that usually makes me cringe when people bring it up, particularly in times of grief: The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord. (Job 1:21 b).  And another verse like it: If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord, so whether we live, or whether we die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:8)  These two verses make me suspect that there is more to suffering then just avoiding it, and more to happiness then just achieving it.  It seems that whether our life seems to us to be “good” or “bad,” God wants to use our circumstances to reveal Himself to us.  So I have to ask, are all my blessings in vain?  Am I squandering joy selfishly?  Have I treated the goodness and mercy following after me as if it is there by my right and for my purposes?

               What might it be like to see all that has come into my life as something to be used for the furthering of God’s kingdom and the betterment of His creation?  We all know we should be using our money to help others and glorify God.  We could all be better financial stewards.  We know it, and we should be reminded of it often, and we should act accordingly.  I’m thinking though, of my tendency to horde non-financial prosperity.  Do I live in peace?  How can I spread that peace to others, instead of focusing on creating a perfectly stress-free lifestyle for myself?  Is my home a place of rest and joy?  How can that be extended through the ministry of hospitality to others?  Can the very walls and bricks and nails of my home become an offering to God?  Am I surrounded on all sides by amazing love?  Some people aren’t.  Could I make a difference by extending that love to one who is ostracized or alone?  I’m pretty sure that for any of you reading this blog (all three of you) have more blessings than burdens in your life, at least compared to the global scale of suffering and hardship.  Let’s think together of ways to make certain that what we have received doesn’t go to waste, that our joys are not for nothing, not hoarded up for ourselves, while others live in lack.  Any thoughts?