When looking back on my mission trips to places where people have very little, I am reminded that here at home we enjoy resources such as clean water, public education, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and freedom of religion that many people around the world don’t have.
Yes, we face personal hardships, and our country has many issues we need to address. However, if we pause and open our eyes, physical and spiritual, we will see God’s blessings beyond measure.
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When I was a young pastor working in Boston on the community’s social issues, a lawyer said to me, “Perception is reality.” It was the first time I had heard these words, and I quickly learned their meaning.
For so many, perception becomes reality when, despite the good things around them, they believe otherwise. If truth be told, in good times and bad, God’s blessings are present and real. In the first stanza of the hymn, “Count Your Blessings,” the author Johnson Oatman Jr. encourages us to name our blessings:
When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Whether in prayer, on your tablet or notebook, list your blessings one by one. List as many as you can, and you will discover their lifetime impact. Include the blessings from your country, family, friends, work, community, church, experiences and so on.
Once complete, review the list daily or weekly to keep the right perspective about your life. When we make our list, it helps us to spread the blessings to others, especially those in need. Name one blessing below, share it with us!
Lord, thank you for all of your blessings; help me to name and remember them in good and bad times.
