Spoiled
It's funny how spoiled we are. For example, our air conditioner has been giving us fits off and on this summer and last night it stopped. So we slept with the windows open and the ceiling fan on high and the whole time we complained about how this seems to happen on the hottest day or hottest night of the year. Now Irony (I will have to post about that word, it is one of my favorite words) here is the day before my wife and I talked about how blessed and lucky we are to have the life we have, yet last night we were complaining about not having air.
It is so easy to lose sight of what is important in life. Have you ever found your thoughts drifting to things you "think" you need? Things you don't have? Things you wish you could do, whether it's a talent, vacation or maybe it is how you wish you looked? I think it is a natural part of who we are as people to want, to have desires or to change aspects of our lives. However, we are spoiled.
I often wonder how much happier I would be as a person if I would look and think about all the things I have in life instead of what I don't have. I would love to be able to start thinking of all the things, all the talents, all the stuff I have instead what I think I am missing. Imagine if we could watch a commercial or walk in a mall and when we see something we want we think about what we have.
Spoiled... How do you define it? What does that word mean to you? What comes to mind? For me the first thing I think about is my youngest daughter, who is 3. I think this is common to think about a toddler whining when we think of "spoiled". But when you put things in perspective we are all spoiled...
We our not just the riches country in the world we (most Americans) are the riches people in the world. Individually you and me are rich in world standards. Most of us do not think about where our next meal is coming from, most of us aren't going to die of disease because of the water we drink. As a matter of fact most of us throw away enough food to feed a family, now that is perspective.
It also speaks volumes to how spoiled we are... We are spoiled enough to be rich by world standard, yet most of us think about what we don't have...
God I pray that your Grace continues to shape my life. I pray that I start to remind myself, I start to think about all that I have when everything else tells me to think about what I should have... Amen.
It is so easy to lose sight of what is important in life. Have you ever found your thoughts drifting to things you "think" you need? Things you don't have? Things you wish you could do, whether it's a talent, vacation or maybe it is how you wish you looked? I think it is a natural part of who we are as people to want, to have desires or to change aspects of our lives. However, we are spoiled.
I often wonder how much happier I would be as a person if I would look and think about all the things I have in life instead of what I don't have. I would love to be able to start thinking of all the things, all the talents, all the stuff I have instead what I think I am missing. Imagine if we could watch a commercial or walk in a mall and when we see something we want we think about what we have.
Spoiled... How do you define it? What does that word mean to you? What comes to mind? For me the first thing I think about is my youngest daughter, who is 3. I think this is common to think about a toddler whining when we think of "spoiled". But when you put things in perspective we are all spoiled...
We our not just the riches country in the world we (most Americans) are the riches people in the world. Individually you and me are rich in world standards. Most of us do not think about where our next meal is coming from, most of us aren't going to die of disease because of the water we drink. As a matter of fact most of us throw away enough food to feed a family, now that is perspective.
It also speaks volumes to how spoiled we are... We are spoiled enough to be rich by world standard, yet most of us think about what we don't have...
God I pray that your Grace continues to shape my life. I pray that I start to remind myself, I start to think about all that I have when everything else tells me to think about what I should have... Amen.
posted by Andy Rainey at Tuesday, July 10, 2007
1 Comments:
I listened to a talk recently that suggested that God's wrath flared far greater towards those that complained than those that built golden calves, and that when we complain to each other about life we are really complaining to God. It is so easy to complain, and our tendency. I think, if we put before us every day all the great, wonderful things God has given us, and set our eyes on those things, and then train ourselves to start seeing things in a positive light, like "rain", then progress might be made.
Rain was a big one for me, I found myself complaining or being bitter every time clouds and rain covered what could have been a sunny day. But in the Bible it talks nothing but how rain is a blessing (except for Noah, but that won't happen again). Now I turn it around: "Blessed are you, O God, who blesses us with rain, for You feed the trees, the grass, the vegetation at the proper time; You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. Thank you, in Your divine mercy, for providing rain for our lands, that we may eat and be satisfied with goodness." Perhaps when we find ourselves complaining, that is an opportunity to grab that which we find "negative" and turn it into a prayer of blessing before God.
So for heat...maybe..."Blessed are You, O God, for in the midst of this heat we are reminded of the heat of purification, that while bitter to a part of us, we welcome it gladly. As we take deep breaths, may we remember that every breath comes from your sustaining hand. May the sweat we feel remind us of the sweat of our forefathers in Egypt, and that while they sweated in bondage, we sweat in freedom. Blessed our you, O God, who created this hot day for our blessing."
God willing, I'll remember this the next time I complain. May He remove all complaining from our midst and replace complaints with blessings directed towards Himself.
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