This week, I read a quote from Charles Spurgeon that said:
God’s greatest blessings often come wrapped up in trials and tests of faith.
Now, isn’t that true? How many of us have faced trials and sorrows that have led us to spiritual growth that we would never have achieved had we not gone through them? Paul writes that this is indeed the pattern of life for those who are justified in Christ (Rom. 5:1-5). He states that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3b-4), which leads us to say that there are certain levels of godliness in the Christian life that can only be achieved through suffering.
But when we think of blessings, what comes first to mind? Well, I believe that for all of us, something material that we need or desire comes to mind, whether it be material goods, health, employment, or even more subjective things such as the restoration of broken relationships. All of these things are good, and we should pray for them. However, it is the spiritual blessings that should always be our priority. Writing the Ephesians, Paul speaks of the “spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3), which he lists in the first chapter as being [1] our election before the foundation of the world (v. 4), [2] our predestination to adoption through Christ (v. 5), [3] the redemption we have through His blood (v. 7), [4] the revelation of His plans (v. 8-9), [5] the promise of an incorruptible inheritance (v. 11), [6] the seal of the Holy Spirit which is the baptism in the Spirit that takes place at the moment of our conversion and guarantees us this future inheritance until we take possession of it (v. 13).
In short, spiritual blessings are God’s saving acts that have taken place since eternity past and will be fulfilled in eternity. In fact, this blessing of God, our salvation, comes dressed in garments of challenges and tests throughout the Christian life. As the Scriptures say, “[W]e are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:36-37) Let us remain steadfast amid the challenges we face, certain that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Rom. 8:18)
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