“Unblessed lives are rarely focused. Bestselling author Michael Hyatt identifies confusion as the first consequence of drifting. ‘There is no larger story to provide meaning to life’s smaller dramas. . . . We eventually wonder if our life has any meaning and despair of finding purpose.’ “- Alan Wright
Alan Wright concludes Chapter 1 of The Power to Bless with the third through fifth struggles that emerged from Jacob’s unblessed mentality.
Struggle 3: Loneliness. Again, pretense begets loneliness. In Jacob’s case, he hoped his desperate trick for attention would embrace him with love. Instead, he fled for his life as a lonely fugitive.
Above all, Pastor Wright believes, the absence of blessings = the greatest root of American loneliness. And loneliness, quite literally, hurts. Because God designed us for relationship. But intimacy rests on a foundation of authenticity. Thus, we discover the joy of real relationships in wholeness.
Struggle 4: Drift. The term ‘Peter Pan Syndrome’ refers to a bright, gifted young adult struggling to accept responsibility and develop focus. When Jacob fled for his life after stealing Esau’s blessing, he lost all focus. And he wandered for years. Like Jacob, without authentic blessing we can look back, only to discover we’ve spent years drifting.
Struggle 5: Relationship problems. Pastor Wright believes Jacob’s real troubles began when he fell in love at first sight with Rachel. In his haste, Jacob vowed to Laban that he’d serve him for seven years in order to marry Rachel.
But, Alan asserts, Jacob approached this backwards. He thought he needed to prove his value first. Thus, he worked for love. Next, Pastor Wright extends that thought:
“If you and I don’t feel blessed, there’s no end to how hard we’ll work to try to attain the blessing we crave. If we aren’t securely blessed, we’ll find in hard to be at peace with those we love because their imperfections will threaten our sense of worth.”
Today’s question: How do you bless people with unblessed lives? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Fuel for the fruitfulness – blessing”
