Count Your Blessings

We had a recent discussion in Sunday School about counting your blessings. How we should be amazed at the beauty of God’s creation and overwhelmed by the fact that God knows us each of us by name. As my sweet friend, Karen, so perfectly summarized:

Imagine...the God of all creation who made galaxies beyond our wildest imaginations...fashioned our bodies with incomprehensible intricacies...sacrificed His Son to redeem us...wants to have a relationship with us!  That is crazy talk!!! 

She is absolutely right. It is crazy that we have a God who loves us this much, but as I listened that day, I couldn’t help but think of how we always associate blessings with good things. We are quick to say, “I’m so blessed because God did this or that for me.” Yet how often do we say that we are equally as blessed when the hard things in life happen?

I feel that we have just bumped into that proverbial ‘horse of a different color’, and now we must decide what to do with him. Will we choose to give thanks, even if?

There is no denying that our days can be problematic and stressful, but I have also found that joy can be intertwined with our sorrow, just as pain can be tied to growth and death with new life. In fact, the more I think about it, I recall how God has met me in my darkest moments and then used my pain and heartache to change me. As the psalmist wrote: “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever.” (Psalm 30:11-12)

Yes, our trials are hard, but the blessing that comes through them of knowing God in a deeper way is something I wouldn’t trade. It’s like discovering the pearl that Jesus spoke about and then finding yourself willing to sell everything that you own to be able to buy it (Matthew 13:45-46).

The blessing is that good.

Blessings have been on my mind because we are about to embark on our yearly trip to Red River, New Mexico. While we always look forward to going, what is making this year even better is that we are being joined by our son, Colin, his darling wife, Stephanie, my nephew, Will and his entire family!

It is going to be a trip to remember, and indeed, I am thankful. I feel extremely blessed. Yet, as I said, I do not want to fall into the trap of only thanking God for things that I enjoy. Instead, I want to remember the words of Paul, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Once again, we see that we are to give thanks in all circumstances and not just the times when things go to suit us. Therefore, if it rains all next week. Or everyone is sick. Or the house we rented isn’t just right. Or a thousand other things that could go wrong, go wrong, I will still choose to give thanks. I will count my blessings because our God is an awesome God!

Amen, so be it!  Lisa