The Annoyances

Here's a glimpse of how God spoke to me through the Sermon on the Mount while we were meditating on it together as a team a few days ago.  We call the beginning of that sermon The Beatitudes or The Blessings.  To the world they appear to be The Afflictions, The Adversities or The Annoyances that keep us from the good life.  But those things that appear to be obstacles to the good life are actually doors to the good life, the blessed life.  You can see how I paraphrased and personalized them here.

I am blessed to be painfully aware of my spiritual needs, because that makes room for experiencing Your kingdom.I am blessed to feel my losses and failures, because that opens space for experiencing your care of my soul.
I am blessed to feel meek and small, for that opens ways for you to give to me what I might have otherwise tried to take for myself.
I am blessed to feel how much I lack righteousness, because that creates pathways for You to fill me with Your righteousness.
I am blessed when these feelings lead me to be tenderhearted toward others, because that often leads others to be tenderhearted toward me.
I am blessed when these feelings purify my heart, because then I get to perceive and experience You in new ways. 
I am blessed when all this begins to transform me into a channel of Your peace into the lives of those around me, because then they experience the presence of Your Son in me.
I am blessed when this kind of living leads to being mistreated, because that shows me that I'm close to Your kingdom. 
I am blessed when this kind of living leads others to speak badly of me and to mishandle me and even accuse me of things that are not true. 
I will embrace such things because I know that You see them and will eventually reward me.  And I know that I¹m in good company.  This has often happened to Your servants in the past. 
So I become salt in my world, seasoning it with a different flavor rather than blandly blending in.
So I become light in my world, displaying Your qualities openly rather than hiding them. 
So I resolve to live this Life that reveals Your Life and Light among those around me, so that they may see the beauty of my Father who is in heaven.