Count Your Blessings
There are times in life when it seems difficult to count your blessings. It seems as though everything that comes your way in life has a negative effect on your thoughts and emotions. It may even seem at times like God has left your side and is letting you flounder in life. By the way, nothing could be further from the truth! God doesn’t leave us; we turn our backs on Him. Satan is at the center of our behavior because we have forgotten to count our blessings. The more we focus on the negative things, the more he enjoys seeing us suffer.
I’ve just come away from a week with almost 5,500 followers of Jesus Christ. I heard lessons that lifted my spirits. I also heard lessons that tested me and caused me to think about my Christian walk. There was singing that made you think you were in heaven. There were friends and brothers and sisters in Christ that I only get to see this one time of the year. All of these are blessings from God.
We came home from Polishing the Pulpit lifted up and spiritually renewed. We’re ready to put those negative thoughts from Satan behind us, and move forward with this renewed spirit. But there are those times when Satan follows you home, or maybe he’s there waiting for you. He can’t be pleased with you having uplifting and pleasant thoughts. Maybe you open your text messages, and there he is in the form of a message from someone who speaks negatively about your family when you’ve tried to help them, multiple times, and they just wouldn’t listen.
So what is the solution to this negativity? Count your blessings! As the song says, “name them one by one.” Focus upon the good things in your life! Keep your focus on things above, not on the things of this earth!! It is within all of us to center our thoughts and actions on God and His Son Jesus.
May I make a suggestion? Take a sheet of paper and fold it in half lengthwise. On one side of that paper list the things Satan is trying to use to make you stumble in your Christian walk. On the other side of that paper, make a list of all your blessings in life. I don’t doubt for one second that this last list will double and even triple the other list. After you have examined these lists, ask God to help you overcome the negative thoughts and give you peace in dealing with them. Then, tear off the negative side and throw it away. Focus daily, on that blessing side, because “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).
“Count your many blessings. Name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”
AUTHOR: Donna Faughn
