Desired Blessings
We may not have everything we want, but we have everything we need. When we're faced with adversity or the responsibilities that come with the blessings we have, it's easy to lose sight of what we really have. I've learned that life tends to throw various distractions at us, similar to a crowd attempting to distract a basketball player at the free throw line. I'm confident that any good free throw shooter will tell you that their primary focus is making the shot instead of the screaming fans in the audience. When you focus on distractions, your vision becomes clouded and your blessings start to feel like burdens. We have to learn to focus more on our blessings than the responsibilities and challenges that come with it. Every blessing is a gift from God, and each one carries significant value. Anything with significant value typically comes with a level of responsibility. So it's important to develop the habit of appreciating our blessings despite the responsibilities that come with it because responsibility and challenges are ultimately inevitable.
One way to accomplish this is simply taking a moment to realize and appreciate how blessed we are. A recent post from life coach, Tony Gaskins stated the following "No matter how tight things may feel, no matter how tough times may be, you're blessed and when you acknowledge that, you create abundance in your life." Despite our circumstances, we are blessed and we must acknowledge this to live life more abundantly. Although some of the responsibilities and challenges that come with our blessings create some pressure and stress, there's someone else praying for what you have right now. While you're complaining about mortgage payments, someone is praying for a place to live. While you're complaining about paying your student loans off, someone prayed and never got the opportunity to attend college. While you're making a fuss about how much you're spending on Christmas gifts, someone is spending Christmas alone. I appreciated my job more when I saw people performing job duties that I strongly dislike. The tediousness that comes with washing dishes drives me crazy. So I couldn't even imagine doing that for a living, but even if I had to, I would be grateful that God even blessed me with an opportunity to make a living for myself. You may not have everything you want, but you have more than you think. There were times that I didn't get everything on my Christmas list as a child, but my parents reminded me that there are some children who didn't get anything. This made me appreciate everything that I received. I also realized that despite what I don't have, there's someone out there who would love to trade places with me.
In order to receive the blessings we want, we have to take care of the blessings we have. Growing up, I had to show my parents that I could take care of the things I had to receive the things I wanted. I had to prove that I could take care of my Sega Genesis before I received my first PlayStation. If I couldn't take care of one gaming system, why would my parents trust me with a better one? Why would God bless you with a Mercedes Benz if you can't praise him while you're riding the bus? We have to develop the habit of praising and serving God despite what we have. If we can accomplish this, we'll get the blessings we desire. If we can appreciate and realize the blessing of affording a bus pass, God will bless you with your own method of transportation. If you can appreciate the blessing of a having a job, God has the ability to bless you with a better one or a promotion on the current job. Maybe entrepreneurship, but you have to prove that you can handle a normal "Nine to Five" before he trusts you with running an entire company. If you can take care of the blessings that come from God, I promise he'll take care of you for the rest of your life!
