Stretched to Be a Blessing

 Categories : A Culture of Listening

 

Last week, I wrote about אשר, a Hebrew word we translate “blessed”,“happy”, or “righteous”. At it’s core, it’s a picture of being held in the teeth, stretched, and straightened. I said that straightening under pressure is what Jesus meant when He said “blessed”.

 

And that’s true. That is the core of the word, the central character. After so many of you told me how much this definition helped you, one reader asked, “Isn’t there more to it?” It seemed lopsided…

 

It wasn’t until the next day that God reminded me there are two more characters in this word. There is more. And it gets waaaay better.

 

Hebrew is read from right to left, so the first character, א, represents strength, power, even God’s power. But it’s also strength that’s unbridled, like that of an animal. In fact, it originally depicted an ox head.

 

The next character is ש, which we covered. And last is ר, which also originally depicted a head. This time, it’s the head of a person. It represents authority. It’s strength channeled, governed, and able to govern.

 

So decoding אשר, we get something like: unbridled strength, stretching and straightening under pressure, and finally, authority= blessed.

 

Amazing right?!? God doesn’t stretch you just because He can. He’s giving you authority. Giving you new strength to extend blessing. This just came alive for me:

 

“They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God”

 

I used to wonder,  what  strength did they start out with? And what strength did they end up with? I can’t say for sure, but the passage I quoted from above begins with אשר.

 

psalm 84_7

I’m ecstatic about this, because I’m so deep in it. The pressure has been breathtaking. I’ve wondered if I’ll snap in the stretching. And I’m only just now seeing glimpses (if I squint) of a new identity I could call “blessed” without a wistful, sarcastic Sarah-laugh.

 

If you’re His, you’re in it too. The circumstances and relationships doing the stretching are different. But you’re being stretched and pressed and conformed to God’s image and strengthened and blessed and it’s real.

 

Maybe it’s ratcheting up, or maybe you’re further along in the cycle, and new strength is shimmering into focus.  Either way, I wanted you to have this. So the next time God has you between His teeth, you know how blessed you are.
When has God given you new strength?



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  • http://seeingsunshine.com/ Tiffany

    What a great look into the word blessed. I love being able to learn more and dig deeper into God’s Word. Thanks for sharing this! (I’m stopping by from iBloom!)

    • mlekallio

      Thanks for taking time to dig deeper, Tiffany.

  • Maree

    Dearest Hannah
    “Breathtaking” caught me ! The tension of it.
    And then comes the sigh …….. or the groanings that words can’t express , the prayer from the depths.
    And the glimpse, God told me this year “focus on the glimpse”, it’s been so foggy and cloudy and wet but the glimpse comes when you least expect it. Oh it’s easy to miss the opportunity for connection and thankfulness for the faith warming glimpse that can expand to vision if you will only focus on it but instead let out the “wistful, sarcastic Sarah laugh” (love that! I repent!). Your journey has been such an encouragement to me, I have sighed to God many times over your journey. Look at you now! You truly have authority to speak truth and ask transformational questions . You are blessed indeed xxxx

    • mlekallio

      Maree, your sighs, questioning, and listening to God on my behalf have sustained me through unexpected journeys and uncanny stillness. Thank you for the reminder of where I need to focus. Your friendship is precious to me, now more than ever.

  • Beckie Sudduth

    It may be trite but I am reminded of braces, sttaightening teeth, or legs/ uncomfortable, obvious, changing your appearance, a hassle, even painful, SLOW; seeming to take FOREVER until the day THEY COME OFF!

    • mlekallio

      Beckie, I wore braces, so I can definitely relate to that slow, painful stretching and straightening! With God, it seems to be more of a cyclical thing. We go through periods of stretching, new strength, and rest, and then He begins stretching us again. “Blessed” isn’t a destination we reach, as much as it’s a new identity He’s revealing in us. Thanks for that picture of how straightening reveals God’s image in us.

  • http://www.amyjbennett.com Amy J. Bennett

    Love this so much! This past year with our adoption has been so hard and good. I always want to tell people it’s such a blessing, BUT it’s so hard. But I didn’t realize by saying it’s a blessing it means that it IS hard AND it’s shaping me to make me stronger in Christ. I do feel so much stronger from a year ago! I love the idea of authority. I think of the verse that says we are to comfort others with the comfort we’ve received. We have the authority to speak about it. So cool :)

    I’m so blessed!

    • mlekallio

      I’m so glad it spoke to your situation Amy! I know you’re living this out in your daily life, so it’s a privilege to give voice to that experience in some way. Love you!