Blessed is me and not you?

I've just finished watching "12 Years A Slave", an incredible true story based on Solomon Northup's memoir, detailing his kidnapping in 1841. Solomon was sold into slavery and was made to work on plantations for the next twelve years. This film provides a glimpse at the disturbing reality too many individuals faced in this pre-civil war era.

An immediate response to watching this less than comfortable film could be to thank God for blessing me with what i have- that i live in this time and in this country. 
But i stop myself here, because i don't know if that's right. Because to say i am blessed by God for the good things in my life, is to assume that those like Solomon weren't blessed because of the bad situations they were in. That for some reason God chose not to bless him, and instead chose to bless me. That just doesn't make sense to me. 

It's to say that the luxuries i have in this world are through the means of a God who, hold on a sec, isn't materialistic? Who tells us not to store up for ourselves things on earth where rust and moth destroy? 
It just doesn't make sense. Just because i was born in a different time, a different nationality and in a different country- does NOT mean God has chosen to bless me above anyone else. I don't think blessed necessarily equals a comfortable life. 
When i turn to scripture to get a sense of context for the term blessing i read:

"Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

What!! I'm blessed when people persecute me?  

To me, i wonder if maybe i need to refigure what blessing looks like- what this means. But i'm beginning to get the impression it has less to do with the situation we find ourselves in and more to do with the hope we have in Christ Jesus. Perhaps being blessed is independent of our circumstances?

And what that blessing looks like- well maybe its in Heaven that we'll know? That is where the reward will be...

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.- Jeremiah 17:7-8

So after all this i still don't really know how to come to terms with this word blessing. But i do have a conviction that it is God who blesses us- and our worldly view of what this looks like cannot compare to the reward He has for us in the kingdom of Heaven. 

Maybe blessings can look material- but these are temporary gains and fail in comparison to God's blessing in Heaven. Which doesn't mean we can't find joy in those blessings now?...

sigh- i've still got a lot to learn. 

I am very grateful and thankful for where God has placed me. I am blessed by the saving grace of Jesus Christ and my restoration to Him.