WARNING...deep thoughts post. If that's not your thing tonight, then move on, or, if you feel like being a smart a$$, take it somewhere else.

A friend of mine is going through a bitter divorce after finding out his wife has been running around with multiple men. Another old friend of mine had a massive heart attack a few nights ago at the age of 46, and died, leaving behind a wife and 4 kids. Another friend of mine has a wife eat up with cancer and probably won't make it. Another fellow I know has a son with an incurable disease that will probably kill him by the time he's 20. Another old friend of mine has a daughter that was murdered by her boyfriend about 6 months ago. When I look around it's easy to see people that are hurting, who would love to be in my situation. So, why is it so hard to realize just how blessed I am and how insignificant my problems are? Am I selfish, or is it just that Satan knows which buttons to push on me?

Lot of hurt and pain in this world. I heard something a week or so ago that I've heard dozens of times before and that was, "If you only had today what you thanked God for yesterday, what would you have?" I don't know why, but that struck a chord with me last week and I've tried to be more diligent in my attitude of thanks this past week.

Prayers sent for your friends and their hurts/illnesses/situations.

Now that is profound!! Ive never heard that but I like it!!!!

I would think your post shows you are actually are aware of God's blessings.

It's very easy for any of us to let the cares of this world,the deceitfulness of riches,and the lusts of other things enter in and choke the Word in our lives.

I was driving down the road once and I asked the Lord why is it that sometimes I seemed to be a powerful man of faith and other times I felt like the lowest sinner on earth.

It was starting to turn evening but still very much daylight and in answer to my question the Lord directed me to look at the moon.It was one of those times when I could clearly see the whole outline of the moon but I could tell that only a very small sliver would be showing when it was fully dark.

Looking up at that moon the Lord said to me in answer to my question about my inconsistency,"The fullness is always there!" With those simple words I saw in my spirit exactly what God was telling me. He was showing me that we reflect the brightness of the Son just as the moon reflects the brightness of the Sun. He even reminded me that in Malachi Jesus is referred to as the SUN of righteousness.

God was telling me that even though I might only at one moment show a small portion of His brightness,"The fullness is always there" of his Holy Spirit.In other words,I was no less his simply because I didn't recognize and reflect all of him at that moment.

Then being real dumb,I asked another question. I asked why I mostly only reflected a small portion of his glory. Then the Lord told me the very simple answer,which happens to be the answer to your question as well. He said,"The world gets in the way!"

Man I understand where you are coming from. Seems like I see or hear something bad every day. But at times we just overlook the blessings we have.

I feel your pain.

When you think you thank

You got a pretty normal life going, you are blessed. It's so easy to get caught up in the cares of the day and forget to count our blessings. Posts like this remind us to thank God for the seemingly small things.
I lift up your friends that somehow they can get through these trials and find peace.
Your reminder was just what I needed to hear as I get ready for another week.

We are quick to take things for granted. Appreciate what you've got.

X2

We can't stay on the mountain top all the time. Lord knows I stay in the valleys and wallow around in self pity, but then I come to my senses and see what God has so richly blessed me with, and I come to my senses. Your post helped me to do that tonight.

Simple answer is that we are human and as the hymn says we are "prone to wander." Part of spiritual maturity comes when we understand that we owe our next breath and heartbeat to almighty God.

We all have our demons. We all have weaknesses. Satan knows them and like a lion, is constantly looking to kill, steal, and destroy everything that God wants to bless us with.

Having a Godly wife helps me every day to focus on the blessings we have. It's pretty awesome to have the first thing you hear every day be "I don't take you or anything today for granted."

No matter how bad we have it whether it be family relationships, financials, wayward children, or health issues, none of us have to look too far to the left or right to find someone in a heck of a worse spot than us.

Lean on the Lord. Have a grateful spirit. Stay in the Word.

Thanks for posting. Helps re-focus priorities.

Dr. B

Great post, Doc.

Hang in there Ford, it will sort on out. You got my prayers.

Oh and this is important. I find that the harder I try to grow in my faith, sometimes that's when Satan comes at me the hardest. Nothing gets him madder than someone trying walk closer with the Lord. Maybe you got the devil scared and he's coming at you with both barrels blazing. Be strong, brother!

Dr. B

You're not selfish. Good for you that you see and realize the blessings you have. I learned after the passing of my Grandson Nathan that many things are trivial. And my tolerance of whiners are thin.

Great Post. I am blessed beyond belief. When I forget that and get down I look around at my 2 children and know I am truly blessed. I also think about the worst time of my life and compare it to the stories of all the bad in the world and realize I got 0 to complain about. Thank You Lord for all the ways you have blessed me!

I thank God every single day, numerous times for the blessings he has given me...

Ford, to answer your question, it seems to me that you do realize how blessed you are AND how insignificant your problems are. I say that based on what you posted in your thread.

I do my very best not to take things for granted, as well as try to give the good Lord credit for the blessings that come my way. All to often I see a lot of people hurting due to various things - similar to those you listed. And then I reflect on myself, what I'm NOT going through that they are, etc. It's easy to see the blessings. That said, I have my "valley" moments too - we all do. I reckon for me, when I get down I just remind myself that there are a whole lot of folks in worse shape than me.

Great thread with lots of profound posts. We often don't know what we've got until it's gone, so it's important to thank God every day for all our blessings.

I believe the prayer life of most people consists of petition for what we want, and intercession for others. But it should daily include thanksgiving and praise. If you start daily listing things that you are thankful for, and praising God for giving them to you, I believe it helps to keep one from taking everything for granted.

I am thankful I have people to talk to on aldeer.

These are the posts I love to read more than anything else. As Christians we need to help each other and pray for each other.

We have our sinful nature to thank for our shallowness. Satan knows it and tries to deceive us into overlooking our blessings. Satan wants us to always look for something more, more material possessions, more money, better health, etc...

The Bible tells us to be content, but the world we live in says otherwise. As Christians we need each other to help remind us of all that we are blessed with. And that our time on earth and the trials and tribulations we face here are nothing when compared to eternity.