It was a day at my part-time job. A place I count as a blessing. A plaque on the wall caught my attention. A list of things to do. Two, immediately caught my eye. Breathe and count your blessings. Got me to thinking. There are days when it is hard to do either. The day greets us with one problem after another. We cry out, “Father, this is not what I planned for my day.”
That is just it. The Lord orders our steps. No matter how we try to go our own way, we have a guide. He allows difficult people to skirt our lives causing unrest and problems. He must know that we are either ready to handle it or we will become stronger and capable through the trial of experience, to handle it better, the next time around.
In either case, we find ourselves bemoaning, “Why me Lord, why me?” Can’t you hear Him saying, “Why not you?” If we have approached God through Christ, He is listening to our prayers, He sees our situations. He gives us words to say. There are benefits to a relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The benefits come in the form of blessings. We are either recipients or we bless others.
So, shall we count breathing as the first blessing of the day? We woke up! We are breathing. With the breath of life comes all kinds of opportunities to either receive or be a blessing to everyone we meet.
Granted, we often find ourselves in places that seem like punishment more than a blessing. There must be a blessing in there somewhere because our Father in heaven has placed us there.
Challenge for today. Before you step out the door this morning, pray. Ask God to go with you. Ask that He gives you a healthy measure of kindness, understanding, compassion and joy. Ask Him to create in you the most welcoming and beautiful smile He can create. Greet each person with that smile, even those we are sure, were planted by the enemy, to bring us down. God loves them too. They are a work in progress just like we are.
Let’s go through our day with the countenance of Christ. The outward light that points to the relationship within. At the end of the day, take a sheet of paper and list the blessings and the “not so” blessings. I am predicting that we will indeed find many “benefits” in the form of blessings that our Father has showered us with, and that they will outnumber our problems.
~Scripture For Today~
Psalms 103:1-2
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; (NASB)
Proverbs 15:13
13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken. (NASB)
~Prayer For Today~
Hello Father! We welcome You into our day. We pray that You will create in us a desire to be kind, compassionate, and joyful to all we come in contact with. For those who desire to be a thorn in our side, we ask for an extra measure of the above benefits from our relationship with You. Keep us focused on You and confident that we go nowhere that You are not present. Create a smile that will override the problems that press in on us. Forgive us of our sins. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
©2015 Kathy Ledbetter. All Rights Reserved.