“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” This blessing is from Numbers 6, when God told Moses to use it to bless the Israelites. It is just as applicable today as it was in the Old Testament. It’s a popular blessing and has been used in several songs that we used to sing to our kids; it is my prayer for you today.

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What does it mean to be blessed? I like the picture the psalmist uses in Psalm 1, and that Jeremiah used in Jeremiah 17:8 – a person who is blessed is like a tree growing along streams of water that sends out roots by the stream; its leaves do not wither and are always green. It does not fear when heat comes; it has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. It doesn’t mean that the tree will not go through hard times, but it is healthy, rooted in a firm foundation, strong in the face of adversity, drawing nourishment from the nearby water, and producing fruit. Similarly, blessed people are healthy, rooted, and solid in their belief in God, strong when trials come, nourished from spiritual water, and producing fruit.

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It’s easy to wish blessings for ourselves, and it makes sense to bless others by word and deed.  But what about blessing people who are mean to you, who dislike you, who make fun of you, or who are difficult? In Romans 13, Paul lists a myriad of ways to live counterculturally. In today’s Scripture, he tells us to bless those who persecute us. He echoes Jesus’ direction during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:44, when Jesus said we should pray for those who persecute us.  

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I don’t know about you, but I haven’t felt persecution recently. We live in a country with religious freedoms that usually gives permissions, not persecutions. I just don’t think that’s how the enemy attacks the church in America. However, there are still some insults and evil things people say about Christians, and I know that people say bad things about me. My knee jerk reaction is to respond in kind – I want to return an insult for an insult.

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But I should bless them instead. I should pray for them instead.

How? We can pray blessings over people, pray for them, compliment them, encourage them, help them, or even perform acts of service for them. All of these are ways to bless someone.

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Try the blessing from Numbers – it applies to friends and foes alike. “The Lord bless you and keep you;the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

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But if you’re praying for someone with whom you’re not seeing eye to eye – be it a boss, a co-worker, a neighbor, a teacher, or a family member – try this:

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Lord, bless _____. He/She is in Your hands.
Bless them with wisdom, peace, and strength to do what is right.

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Give them a heart that seeks what is good.
Where there is anger, bring kindness, love, and understanding.
Where there is harm, bring repentance, healing, and forgiveness.

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Lord, give me grace and wisdom as we build a more productive relationship.

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May God’s blessing be upon you! May you be like a tree planted by streams of water today.