Finding Your Way Out of Life’s Labyrinth: Rediscovering God’s Original Blessing

Life can feel like wandering through an impossible maze. We take wrong turns, face unexpected challenges, and sometimes wonder if we’ll ever find our way out of the confusion and pain. But there’s hope – there’s a thread that can guide us through life’s most difficult seasons.

The Thread That Leads to Freedom

In Greek mythology, the hero Theseus entered a deadly labyrinth to face the Minotaur. What saved him wasn’t just his courage or strength – it was a simple ball of thread given to him by Princess Ariadne. By tying one end to the entrance and following it back out, he escaped what would have been certain death.

Life often feels like that labyrinth. Relationships twist in unexpected directions, careers take surprising turns, and we find ourselves facing our own “minotaurs” – difficult people, addiction, depression, or grief. These challenges can leave us feeling lost and wondering how we’ll ever find our way back to hope and peace.

Where Does Our Thread Begin?

To find our way forward, we need to trace our steps back to the very beginning. In Genesis 1:26-27, we discover something profound about our identity:

“Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us… So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

You Are Made in God’s Image

This truth is repeated twice in Scripture because it’s foundational to everything else. You were made in the image of Almighty God – not in the image of your culture, your accomplishments, or your failures. This reality cannot be taken away, regardless of your beliefs, choices, or circumstances.

Every person carries immeasurable value because they bear God’s image. From the unborn child to the elderly person, from the person who frustrates you to the one you struggle to understand – all are created in God’s likeness.

How Do You Love Difficult People?

When someone gets on your nerves or thinks differently than you do, remember this: they bear the same image of God that you do. C.S. Lewis wrote, “There are no ordinary people. You have never spoken with a mere mortal.” Everyone around you was created in God’s image to live forever.

God’s First Instinct: Blessing

In Genesis 1:28, immediately after creating humanity, God’s first action was to bless them. Before original sin, there was original blessing. This is crucial to understand – blessing comes first in God’s heart toward us.

What Does This Mean for You?

God’s most basic instinct is to bless. Blessing is His default setting, His ancient instinct, His first reflex. He didn’t bless humanity because we deserved it – we hadn’t done anything yet. God blessed because blessing flows naturally from who He is.

From the very beginning, blessing has been the first word God spoke over your life. And He hasn’t taken that word back.

When Blessing Feels Impossible to Believe

Some people struggle to believe God wants to bless them. Often this stems from childhood experiences – if you grew up feeling overlooked, belittled, or unloved, it can be hard to imagine a God who delights in you.

But here’s the truth: God has blessings for you that you haven’t experienced yet and can’t even imagine. He can break the negative patterns and cycles from your past, allowing you to become a blessing to others.

The Problem with Focusing Only on Sin

While original sin is real (anyone who’s raised children knows we’re born with a rebellious nature), the church sometimes focuses so heavily on sin that we miss the original blessing. We must get the order right.

When children hear first that they’re made in God’s image and loved from the beginning, then conversations about sin take on a different tone. Sin still must be dealt with through the cross, but it’s not the first word spoken over us – blessing is primary, sin is secondary.

What Blessing Is and Isn’t

What Blessing Is NOT:

– Good luck or a lucky charm
– Winning the lottery or material prosperity
– Health, wealth, and prosperity (though these might sometimes accompany blessing)
– An exotic vacation with #blessed underneath

What Blessing IS:

– Joy that can’t be explained, even in despair
– Peace that steadies you when nothing makes sense
– Grace you extend to others when you’re hurting
– Knowing your past mistakes don’t get the last word
– Trusting the One who holds your future

Blessing is a right relationship with God in whose image you were created.

How Do You Have This Right Relationship?

1. Admit you’re a sinner who has failed God and fallen short of His glory
2. Believe that God loved you so much He sent Jesus to die for your sins and restore your relationship with Him
3. Confess and follow Jesus, accepting His gift of forgiveness

Blessing Doesn’t Mean No Problems

Jesus was honest: “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). Blessing doesn’t mean the absence of struggle – it means the presence of God in the struggle.

Sometimes the very circumstance you want God to change is what He’s using to change you. What feels like a setback might be where your strength is being formed. What looks like a curse might be a blessing still unfolding.

Blessing Complicates Life (In a Good Way)

Children are a blessing, but they complicate your life. Building relationships with different people complicates your schedule but stretches you. Joining a ministry team complicates your calendar but builds meaningful connections.

Blessing doesn’t make your life easier – it makes your life fuller.

Your Worth to Jesus

Judas sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver – roughly $21.60 in today’s money. But the value Judas placed on Jesus is not the value Jesus placed on Judas. Judas was worth the cross to Jesus, and so are you.

Even when you fall short or turn away, the value Christ places on you doesn’t change. You are worth the cross to Him – not because of what you’ve done, but because of who He is and His love for you.

Life Application

This week, tie your thread to the cross. The thread that began with God’s original blessing in Genesis runs through all of Scripture and is secured at the foot of the cross. This is your way out of life’s labyrinth.

Challenge yourself to:

• Receive the blessing God spoke over humanity from the beginning
• Accept the blessing Jesus secured for you at the cross
• Allow God’s voice of blessing to speak louder than past voices of shame

Questions to ask yourself:

1. Do I truly believe I was made in God’s image and that He desires to bless me?
2. What wounds from my past need God’s healing touch and blessing?
3. How can I become a conduit of blessing to others this week?
4. Am I holding onto something so tightly that it’s become a burden rather than a blessing?

Remember: Blessing was God’s first word over your life, and because of Jesus, blessing is still His word to you today.