Awaken to the Good and Give Thanks

The Hebrew word for gratitude is hikarat hatov, which translates as "recognizing the good."  How many times a day do we recognize the good that is in front of us, around us, or in our circumstances?  I asked this question not only to you (the reader) but to myself.  It's so easy for us to come to terms and focus on things that we lack.  We all too many times overlook what gifts we have been given, especially when facing difficulties.  The truth is that even when facing difficulties, you still have something good that has been given to you.  I read a good quote this morning... "Practicing gratitude means recognizing the good that is already yours."  How true is this? (question not meant to be answered but realized)
 Here are a few examples:

1. If your car just broke down but your legs work properly to walk, than you shave something to be grateful for. 
2. If your homesick and miss your friends and family but you have made new friends in your current location, than you have something to be grateful for.
3. If you lost your job but still have your family and health, than you have something to be grateful for.
4. If you broke a string on your guitar but you still have 4 strings left, than you have something to be grateful for.
5. If your flight was delayed 8 hours but you made 2 new friends from different countries, than you have something to be grateful for.

Selah

(reader pause and think)

This week I have been focusing on this character trait. GRATITUDE.  When we focus on noticing things that we can be grateful for we discover how much good there really is in our lives (even in the midst of difficulties).

Challenge:  

Say thank you to every person who does even the slightest thing that is helpful or beneficial to you.

Say thank you to God for every beautiful thing that He puts in your path.

Awaken to the good and give thanks.

Conversation with God

I was driving the other day in my home state and I had all these random thoughts come to my mind.  These thoughts were spoken verbally... although no-one else was in the car with me.  I sometimes speak to myself... via God. :-)

Random thoughts:

1. It's so beautiful in America! The temperature is absolutely perfect with a cool fall breeze that blows across my skin.
2. The dessert is not beautiful... thats for sure.  It's sandy, very hot, with a hot breeze that causes sand burns across your skin!
3. Yes, I almost forgot how much I love clouds! Big white puffy clouds!
4. There are never clouds in the U.A.E.  It's always sunny and hot as a sauna!
5. Oh and grass too! I absolutely love grass!
6. No grass in the U.A.E.  It's just full of rolling sand dunes and sky scraper gallore!
7. How easy it is to get around here! There are parking spaces, no traffic, and people who follow the road rules!
8. I def. don't miss the traffic, crazy drivers who cut you off, and the killer-accidents that happen on the highway.  Not to mention all the HONKING!!!
9. God... I miss home and the simplicity of life.

Immediately when I said #5 out loud... God answered me.

God:  "I came so you could have life and have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)


Immediately I was struck by surprise! I did not expect to hear God speak back to me.  These past few years I have come to realize that God has a different calling for every person.  My life may look very different than someone else's, although our lives are of equal importance to God.  As I listened to what God said to me on this day, I came to understand an important point that He was trying to share with me.  For me...  the simplicity of what my life could be here in the states is not what God has called me to live.     Simplicity is not always abundance.  At this point in my life God has not called me to live a simple life back home but the exact opposite. God's view of me living abundantly is not what I may think living abundantly is... simplicity.  I have to say that this past year living in the M-East has been the hardest year of my life.  I have gone through many trials dealing with culture, people, and finding my place in a very foreign land alone.  I have been questioning going though all this again another year.  It has been a difficult year and I have been asking God if I had actually heard Him right the first time (of course I had). I was refreshed this summer by an amazing summer in HIS LAND!  This refreshed me from the hardships of the U.A.E.  Ending the summer back home in Indiana has been quite refreshing too.  Voicing (to the Lord) the simplicity of life back home in Indiana took me to a random "God encounter."

I just have to end with... "God's ways of living life abundantly are not always man's ways."
Thank you God that Your Ways are not my ways.   Important lesson learned today. :-) :-) :-)