Count Your Many Blessings

Are you having a tough time and finding yourself angry at God? Sometimes you just need to take a step back...

Coming from a mama of two earth babies and one angel baby, grief is a hard pill to swallow. One thing to note here is that grief comes in many packages and doesn't always have to involve the loss of a person. Sometimes we grieve the loss of more than just people. When something bad happens, it isn't hard to wallow in a pit of grief over the fact that there is no longer anything good in your life. Am I right? Not exactly, but stay with me...

God doesn't "put us through hard times." He doesn't "take things" from us to suck all that is good from our lives. Talking with a friend the other day who was going through a hard time, I put it this way: God uses our mishaps to show us what we still have that is good in our lives.

How can bad things happening make us aware of the good?

When we are struggling, in that moment of hurt, we want to point fingers at God. We want to blame Him because we know He has the power to take the hurt and to stop the painful events. He's God. He can do the impossible. The thing is, God uses our struggles for the greater good of those around us. Think back to the Bible. Nehemiah faced constant opposition and criticism for trying to rebuild the wall, but he persisted over and over again rather than focusing on the negatives and just throwing in the towel. Had he just said, "God, you're letting too much go wrong with this. If you want it built, you're going to have to make it easy," the Jerusalem walls may have not ever been rebuilt and the non-Jews around might have won.

Think back to Mary and Joseph. They were to be married, and the angel appeared to tell Mary she was with child. Joseph was going to try and leave her without making a scandal of it, but to him, this was probably devastating news. Later, it all worked out in their favor, despite facing the odds of a couple bearing a child out of wedlock and having to have the baby in a manger in the stables. They faced a lot of adversity and hardships, but they chose to count their blessings rather than the negative experiences in their lives.

Lastly, think of Jesus. God's own Son. The Chosen One. He endured so much pain. He endured betrayal, beatings, and even death, and HE KNEW IT WAS COMING. He never lost sight of what good was to come of it. He knew with every negative event that more would follow, but he trusted God. He trusted God to know what He was doing and to know his suffering meant something. Instead of focusing on the bad, he taught. He loved. And he discipled and helped others through their hardships.

Embrace the bad and cherish the good.

God doesn't give you hardships because He's mean. He doesn't give them to you because He is angry. God gives you hardships because He knows with His strength, you have the ability to turn them around and help others. He knows that the situation He allowed for you is one that will be used to bring someone back to Him. He knows that while you may yell and question and be angry, you are strong enough in your faith to turn back to Him, and most likely, you'll bring a few new faces around with you.

When you start to feel like God is just picking on you and you can't take anymore, make it a point to ask yourself: I'm focusing so hard on the bad things in my life, what do I have good going for me? Once you acknowledge one positive, usually more blessings will rise to the surface. You might even come to realize that some of the worst events of your life have truly been blessings in disguise. They just may not be your blessings. Sometimes the best blessing for us is to realize God's using us to bless others. Your testimony might be the reason someone is able to get out of bed. It just might be the reason someone chooses to live another day. Best of all, your story might just be the reason someone chooses God today.