Have you ever had a
day when nothing seemed to go right or your way? Bills are piling up; the car
needs repairs and you feel like nothing good is going your way. It goes right
along to the words of the song, “Mama told me there would days like this”!
There was a time in my life that I didn’t think I would make it through another
day without streaming from so much stress and anxiety. I felt I just could not
get ahead in life. When our three kids were small, I was self employed trying
to get a new business start off the ground. I worked almost 7 days a week with
long hot days. We lived in a small rent house where the air conditioning barley
cooled the house, no fenced yard and a dog, and purple carpet to boot. I drove
a small Chevy truck with standard transmission and drove all over Dallas and
Forth Worth all day in traffic. One day I counted how many times I shifted; it
was almost five hundred. I must admit there were days that I could just not find
anything to be thankful for and ended up miserable and the constant complainer
about life. Do any of your days feel like this?
Our human tendency is to compare ourselves with those around
us just to prove how bad we have it. Why do others have it so much better than
me? We think there is this high standard of living that we should all have and
enjoy. Yet, many times we fall short. I remember my youngest son asking me one
day, “Dad, are we poor”? After some thought, I responded to his inquisitive
question, it all depends on who you are comparing us to. If you compare us to
the president of the United States, then yes, we may look poor. If you compare
us to a homeless person then we look rich.
The key is giving thanks to whom it belongs and for all the
blessings you already have. In Psalm 9.1 the writer states, “I will give thanks to you, o Lord, with all
my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds”. It is not hard to find
thankfulness in the Bible. Try reading any book of Psalms and you will hear the
words give thanks. It is not about you anyway, it is all about the Lord working
in your life all around you. The challenge is we get so tied up in ourselves
and why things are not going right, that we forget our heavenly father is there
waiting to hear the words, thank you.
Trust me, the best way I have found to combat those days
when I feel like nothing is going my way and everything is pilling up on my
shoulders, is to stop, look around, and see his blessings. Count your blessings
and what you do have and what is
going your way, instead of the opposite. Sometimes I find a quiet chair in the
house and just sit and look around. I begin seeing things to be thankful for
and begin seeing things that are good. Thank you, Lord, for this house, the
furniture we have, air conditioning, running water, electricity, the car in the
garage, the roof over my head, the clothes in my closet, the money in my
wallet, the beautiful day outside, my church, my friends, my job, health, my
wife, my family, the dog, and on and on.
I see it all so clearly now that I am thankful. I begin asking why do I deserve
all this? Why am I so blessed?
My best days at home, at work and at church on Sundays is
when I find myself saying “thank you” to people. Saying and hearing those words
every chance I get all day, keeps away my stress and anxiety. You see, worship
begins with thank you! Thank you, Lord.
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