“It is very remarkable that Jesus calls the poor, that is, those who have lost everything, the lonely, the hungry, the thirsty, ‘blessed.’ Why does he do so? It is because he has something for them. Perhaps the ground has given way under all of us, as under them, in order that we may ask where is the true ground on which we can build our lives. The very hour when all human security is shattered, when we are in the streets without either work or calling, when men turn from us, when our houses fall about us in ruins, when all is cold because our dearest friends are dead, when we are no longer able to see our way–this hour can be the most blessed in our lives. For then God wills to be all things to us–home and friend, mother hand and food for the coming day, the place where we can lay our heads, the heart in which we can find rest and can be like the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field, and say, ‘I have nothing, and now Thy hand must be all things.'”
Helmut Thielicke, Out of the Depths. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962, pages 18-19.
Related posts:
Prayer Note #61: The Interference of God–A Prayer
Bible Note #42: Studies in James #1–James 1:1-4
Pastor Note #103: Loving Like Crazy Jesus Followers
Prayer Note #57 — Relying on God vs. Presuming upon God: A Prayer
Pastor Note #69: Death and the Victory of Christ
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