When I stop and look at my life, I realize that I have a lot to be thankful for. The problem is: I think that we get going so fast and keep ourselves so busy that we often forget to look around past what has become our immediate focus and see all the blessings.
I was thinking about that this morning, as I sit here. I think it is important to note that seeing God’s hand of blessing on our lives and noticing all we have to be thankful for does not mean that our lives also do not have struggles. Let’s be real: we ALL have struggles! But, I believe that if we allow ourselves (or retrain our brains) to focus on the positives and the good, we will find ourselves able to live as content, joyful, peaceful, trusting, men and women.
Are you like me, have you ever had an experience that you KNEW God had his hand in? I’m talking like an instance where you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was involved – that the miraculous had just happened? Maybe like me, you were driving down the road and you saw the semi-truck getting ready to hit you, you close your eyes to embrace for impact and most certainly death, but you open them quickly only to discover that you have been protected. Somehow, in some way, the inevitable didn’t end up happening. And we know and praise God for His protection!
Maybe you have had an experience like me, where you were left to try and figure out parenting alone. You don’t know how you will survive on your income. You don’t know how you will pay your bills. You’ve already cut back on all the extras. And now Christmas is approaching… And you wonder, how can I even get presents for my kids? But then, seemingly out of nowhere, money is given, or presents have been delivered that you didn’t expect. And we know and praise God for His provision!
Or maybe, like me, you have found yourself desperate for answers. You are sitting at a moment of decision. The doctors are needing you to decide what to do regarding your own child and whether or not to give her a surgery at 2 months old that will have lifelong consequences. And your brain and heart are so overwhelmed with emotion, it seems impossible to know. After all, there is no parenting manual, and I am no doctor! And then, even as you are praying, your mind falls to a solution, one that was not even offered as an option. The doctors are not pleased to do it differently, but they are willing to do it. Surgery happens, without that dreaded lifelong consequence. And we know and praise God for His wisdom!
Maybe you have had an experience like me, where you felt alone. Your spouse left you, or close friendships dissolved… and you find yourself wondering if you have the strength to get up and go through another day. What is point? The people that you most want to share the day with are no longer around. The days seem long. The feelings of loneliness seem like more than you can bear. And then someone new comes into your life. Someone who listens, and loves, and encourages, and cares. Someone who you can laugh with, and be real with… And we know and praise God for His ability to create new things!
Let’s be real: God has provided. He has provided beyond what we can comprehend and/or even notice. Shelter, clothing, food, warmth, friendships, family, education, transportation, healing, salvation, peace, medicine, freedom, the beauty of creation, money, wisdom, even coffee! (It is morning time!)
Psalm 9:1 “I will give thanks to You, LORD, with all my heart, I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.”
Let’s make a point today to look for God’s provision – the demonstration of His love. And let’s praise Him for it. Even in the midst of our trials.
Blessings!
After reading this it made me take a look back at my life. I looked back at the very difficult issues I had encountered earlier in my life, some much more so than others. Through the thick and thin I used to think I led a lucky life for the most part. It has only been in the last year and half (since Northwood CC came into our life) that I have regained the faith I had as a child. I can look back now and know that it wasn’t luck at all. It was God. He loved me and patiently waited for me to reach this point in my life while carrying me through the tough times. It was His plan all along. Thank you Michelle. You are a blessing to us.
Thank you for bringing back memories some similar experiences. I remember my mom and I in the car and we both remember seeing our car go off the road and heading over the cliff and the next thing we knew we were backup on the road safe. We had hit black ice.
I remember raising three girls alone but having church family there to help me. I had many prayers answered and feel so blessed. It’s hard for me to ask a for help but many times money would show up in a card. A gift card will show up. I thank God each and every time because He has great timing. I thank Him each and every day for His many blessings.
Della