GOD OPENED MY EYES
Sometimes the more blessings we have the harder it is to see them.
Sometimes the very fact that we have so much makes it hard to be thankful.
I know I've shared this before but it seems a good time of year to share it again.
Our water here at the house has never been very good so for years we went to Mark's mom and dad's house and hauled our drinking water from the spring.
Good, clean spring water.
Years went by and we built the chicken houses which meant we dug a new well.
Now that water was good, it didn't smell and it had a good taste.
So we no longer had to drive to Pekin to get water, now we just had to walk down to the chicken houses.
I didn't even have to go get it.
That was one of the jobs the kids had, to keep water at the house.
That wasn't good enough for me though.
I clearly remember the day I went to the sink to get water and got mad because I wasn't like everybody else and able to simply turn on my faucet and get a drink.
Oh. I could turn on the sink to get water to wash the dishes or many other things but I couldn't drink it.
I was standing there being mad when all of a sudden I got a picture in my mind.
I know it was God getting my attention.
As I stood there at the sink I saw in my mind those pictures you see on TV of a mother walking five miles with a jug on her head to get dirty water to take home for her children and it will more than likely make them sick.
I saw God looking down at me and God looking down at her.
I felt awful.
We all know how it is to see an ungrateful person.
A complaining person.
I knew how God must feel when he had given me a clean well, just a couple hundred feet from the house, and since he had also given me four healthy strong children I didn't even have to go get the water.
We are such a nation of complainers and one of the reasons is we compare ourselves to each others massive wealth.
Yes, massive wealth.
If you live in America you have massive wealth.
If we could learn to see what we have in light of what the world has instead of what our neighbor has or the people in the big fancy subdivision have instead of complaining we would be completely humbled and awe struck at the magnitude of what we have.
If you go to the store today and you find yourself wanting to get angry at the long lines, imagine yourself in another country.
Imagine no store to go to.
Imagine if there was a store there were empty shelves \or full shelves but you had no money to buy anything.
Imagine that you had nothing and there was no Red Cross, no Salvation Army, no government programs, no churches to help you.
That is the reality of what most people live with everyday.
Purpose now that when you are in the line at the store you won't complain you will see it for what it really is and not let Satan steal your joy by making you think what is a good thing is really a bad thing.
The fact that you are standing in line is a testament to just how good we have it.
You drove a car to the store, you got out and walked in, you have a huge selection, you can afford to buy what you need and if you can't afford
it there are ways to get help.
When you run out of counter room or table room and you want to complain, stop and think about what you are really saying, listen to yourself.
What you are really saying, is "Oh God, you have given to much, this is just a lot of trouble, I'm not happy about all I have."
We don't think we're saying that but it's what we're saying.
Why not say, 'Wow our table overflows or cup really does run over.
When the house gets so crowded and you want to start thinking about you could use a bigger house look around at all of those faces and think Wow, so many people to love, my house is busting at the seems with love.
Keep people in other places ever present to your heart.
We're weak and we tend to be ungrateful and sometimes we need to clear our minds and wipe our eyes so we an see clearly.
So every time you feel yourself wanting to complaining, stop and ask God to show you the truth, ask him to open your eyes and you will find yourself giving thanks instead of complaining.
Oh and just to show you how good God is and how he was really just blessing me before my time I now see that I was just ahead of the game.
I was into bottled water long before it was cool.
Sometimes the very fact that we have so much makes it hard to be thankful.I know I've shared this before but it seems a good time of year to share it again.
Our water here at the house has never been very good so for years we went to Mark's mom and dad's house and hauled our drinking water from the spring.
Good, clean spring water.
Years went by and we built the chicken houses which meant we dug a new well.
Now that water was good, it didn't smell and it had a good taste.
So we no longer had to drive to Pekin to get water, now we just had to walk down to the chicken houses.
I didn't even have to go get it.
That was one of the jobs the kids had, to keep water at the house.
That wasn't good enough for me though.
I clearly remember the day I went to the sink to get water and got mad because I wasn't like everybody else and able to simply turn on my faucet and get a drink.
Oh. I could turn on the sink to get water to wash the dishes or many other things but I couldn't drink it.
I was standing there being mad when all of a sudden I got a picture in my mind.
I know it was God getting my attention.
As I stood there at the sink I saw in my mind those pictures you see on TV of a mother walking five miles with a jug on her head to get dirty water to take home for her children and it will more than likely make them sick.
I saw God looking down at me and God looking down at her.
I felt awful.
We all know how it is to see an ungrateful person.
A complaining person.
I knew how God must feel when he had given me a clean well, just a couple hundred feet from the house, and since he had also given me four healthy strong children I didn't even have to go get the water.
We are such a nation of complainers and one of the reasons is we compare ourselves to each others massive wealth.
Yes, massive wealth.
If you live in America you have massive wealth.
If we could learn to see what we have in light of what the world has instead of what our neighbor has or the people in the big fancy subdivision have instead of complaining we would be completely humbled and awe struck at the magnitude of what we have.
If you go to the store today and you find yourself wanting to get angry at the long lines, imagine yourself in another country.
 |
| Do you ever really look at the bounty on the store shelves or do we take it for granted? |
Imagine if there was a store there were empty shelves \or full shelves but you had no money to buy anything.
Imagine that you had nothing and there was no Red Cross, no Salvation Army, no government programs, no churches to help you.
That is the reality of what most people live with everyday.
Purpose now that when you are in the line at the store you won't complain you will see it for what it really is and not let Satan steal your joy by making you think what is a good thing is really a bad thing.
The fact that you are standing in line is a testament to just how good we have it.
You drove a car to the store, you got out and walked in, you have a huge selection, you can afford to buy what you need and if you can't afford
it there are ways to get help.
When you run out of counter room or table room and you want to complain, stop and think about what you are really saying, listen to yourself.
What you are really saying, is "Oh God, you have given to much, this is just a lot of trouble, I'm not happy about all I have."
We don't think we're saying that but it's what we're saying.
Why not say, 'Wow our table overflows or cup really does run over.
When the house gets so crowded and you want to start thinking about you could use a bigger house look around at all of those faces and think Wow, so many people to love, my house is busting at the seems with love.
Keep people in other places ever present to your heart.
We're weak and we tend to be ungrateful and sometimes we need to clear our minds and wipe our eyes so we an see clearly.
So every time you feel yourself wanting to complaining, stop and ask God to show you the truth, ask him to open your eyes and you will find yourself giving thanks instead of complaining.
Oh and just to show you how good God is and how he was really just blessing me before my time I now see that I was just ahead of the game.
I was into bottled water long before it was cool.
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