"Do not be anxious about anything; but in everything, make your needs known to God by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving.", such is the wording of the sixth verse of chapter 4 of the book of Philippians (Philippians 4:6).
The verse set out above asks us to harbour no anxiety at all, but to pray in every situation and to be grateful to our God for what He does / has done for us.
As human beings, we find it very hard to rest our eyes on what we have rather than on what we do not have. If you were asked the following question: "what do you own?", you would have to think before answering. You might even answer with a question of your own: "what do I own, how do you mean?"
But when it comes to the question: "What do you not have? What would you like to have?" , there the list grows very quickly indeed. Among other things, the answers would look something like this: " I want a decent job, I want to travel, I want a house, I want a car, I want to get married, I want children, I want a boy, I want a girl" and so on.
Here is a most curious human reaction, for "what you have" you can see, yet you find it hard to speak of. Whereas "what you do not have", though you cannot see it, you list with ease. Strange, yes! But that is Man in all his singularity.
Some of us are perhaps passing through a stage of life where we have no desire even to think about everything we have. One or two lacks take up our minds and form that blurred screen which keeps us from seeing our blessings. Our vision is clouded.
If you too are passing through such a period, I would like to say this to you:
Do not let the worry over what is absent,
Take from you the gratitude for what is present.
Appreciate the water in your glass instead of fixating on what is still missing to fill it. And above all, have faith in this: "God makes everything good in its time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). God’s silence is not tied to His absence; He is always on time. It is plain that His hour is not ours, but faith tells us that His hour is better than ours.
In the meantime, while we await that divine moment, "Count the blessings of God, set them all before your eyes, and you will see, in worship, how great their number is!" (Psalm 103). I began this exercise myself while bored in my room. I guarantee you that I have still not finished counting my blessings at the very moment I am writing these lines.
You are blessed beyond what you can see, so be grateful!
M.Z.
Comments