For background and continuity, here are my last two posts on this topic, from last May:
How to Obtain the Blessing of God: Introduction
How to Obtain the Blessing of God: Part 1
All these quotes are taken from The Blessing of God: Previously Unpublished Sermons of Jonathan Edwards, Broadman & Holman, 2003, pp. 22-23.
To recap, Jonathan Edwards', in his sermon entitled How to Obtain the Blessing of God, proposes that it's appropriate for us to receive His blessing through a process of not letting Him go until He bless us. He cites four reasons, and the first which was discussed in Part 1 is this:
Reason #1: Because not letting God go except He bless us reveals the value and necessity of the blessing we seek.
It reminds me of the many, many kids I heard while working at Super Target in Edmond (1398 props, Baby!) who dramatically informed their parents that if they didn't have that Bratz doll, or didn't get that squishy ball in the checkout line, they would die. The parents knew this was a passing desire that had no root in their hearts other than in the immediate moment of impulse buying. Even a good parent who takes care of his child's needs won't give into every impulse of "I want _."
In the same way, God wants us to really know how much we need this blessing so that, upon receiving it, we are able to recognize its true value and be aware that God takes care of our true needs. By temporarily withholding a blessing, we have time to think about whether this is really valuable or not.
Okay, recap out of the way.
Reason #2: Because not letting God go except He bless us gives us time to reflect on our unworthiness.
God's seeming [appearing] to deny persons the blessing for a while when they seek tends to lead person to reflect on their unworthiness of the blessing. They have that seeming denial to put them upon thinking what they have done to provoke God to withhold a blessing from them. While Christ seemed to deny the woman of Canaan what she sought, she was put in mind of her unworthiness. Jesus said, "It is not meet [appropriate] to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs" (Matt. 15:26). This leads them to seek it in a more humble manner.
Not only are we brought to the point of realizing the value of the thing we seek, we're also given the opportunity to examine ourselves for the purpose of finding out what things we may have done to cause a rift in our relationship that needs repenting. And in so doing, we are humbled and rely more on the cross as the basis of our blessing, not our righteousness.
This is not vindictive of God, as if He's only mad at you and will change to happiness if you do your part. God does have anger for sin and it is a part of His nature, just as we can be angry when someone we love does something hurtful against us, and yet love them and want their good at the same time. But according to this sermon, God is eager to bless us even when He has something against us.
I love, love, love the biblical account he calls on and it's worth meditating on. Matthew 15:21-28
21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon."
So Jesus went to Tyre and Sidon, and who comes before Him to seek a blessing but a woman, a Canaanite woman. This is a Gentile, a descendent of the people who inhabited the land and had stored up God's anger against them through extremely dark sins. And she comes to Israel's Messiah to seek a blessing, seeking mercy because of her daughter who was oppressed by a demon.
Jesus' response?
23a But he did not answer her a word.
If God wants to bless people more than they want to be blessed, what explains Jesus' behavior? He didn't tell her yes, He didn't tell her no. He just ignores her.
23b And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." 24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Evidently she did not give up, but was continuing to cry out after Jesus. This annoyed the disciples. Did it annoy Jesus? His answer is that He is Israel's Messiah, sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
It sure appears that Jesus is not interested in blessing this woman by granting her request.
Does she give up?
25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me."
She finally gets close enough to Him and, in a humble way, pleads for His help. You'd think that if Jesus was so eager to bless people He'd give in and say, "Okay, fine. Have it your way." Like Burger King.
26 And he answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
Whoa! Slam on Canaanites out of nowhere! "Not only have I been ignoring you since you're not an Israelite, but I'll also take this opportunity to remind you that you're not a child but a dog."
This seems so harsh. "My blessings are for the children, not for the dogs." I have no idea His tone, but it seems like a shocking spurn.
But notice her reply:
27 She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
In other words, "Yes, I may be a dog and not a child, but even the crumbs are good enough for me." She doesn't shirk off His dog imagery; she embraces it as a way to get closer to Him.
"Yes, Lord," is an amazing acknowledgment. I see her as saying, "Yes, I know I don't deserve this blessing from You. Yet I trust that You are so overflowing with blessings that even the 'spare' blessings You give are way more than I need."
28 Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.
Her faith was great and her desire was answered. She didn't give up. She sought His blessing in a more humble manner, and this greatly pleased Jesus.
So, even though it seemed like Jesus wouldn't give the time of day to this Canaanite woman, He was intending on blessing her all along and it was through her persistence and humble acknowledgment that Jesus answered her request.
My conclusion is that it's right for God to withhold the blessing we seek because it makes us remember that it's the cross we're trusting in for our righteousness and reward, and we are given time to reflect on anything we might have done that we should repent of, and casts us back on His mercy to bless us because Jesus paid for all of the sins we have committed.
It's not a matter of shoring up some sort of righteousness savings account and then saying, "See, God, reward me now." It's recognizing that He's paid for it, and that there's an "it" that needs to be paid. Then, we ask for mercy and draw near with confidence to the throne of grace where we find grace and help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
Thus, if God is withholding a blessing you are seeking, don't automatically assume that He doesn't want to bless you with what you're seeking. Take some time to consider if your heart is not right toward Him, like King Amaziah in 2 Chronicles 25:2.
All right, that wraps up a few of my thoughts on Point #2. On to #3!
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