At this very moment, there’s a child being born that will never make more than 2 dollars a day. There’s a single mother who’s working 16 hours a day to provide for her children. A teenager growing up in a country where they are not able to choose the life they want and are forced to do what their parents and the culture around them decides. There’s a girl in a middle eastern country who will be treated as property regardless of how faithful she is to her father and eventual husband that she will be given to. There’s someone who became homeless this year and they’re about to experience their coldest night they’ve ever spent outdoors.
At this very moment, I sit in my loving parents’ house. I warm myself from the short 3 minutes I was outside. I sit on a bed that I only sleep in a couple of times a year when I visit my parents. I’ve just gotten back from spending time with 7 of the closest friends a guy could ask for. I have my girlfriend sitting next to me doing her thing on her phone. I’ll wake up tomorrow to work my job that I can work from anywhere in the world. I’m planning several trips to visit family and beautiful places.
I don’t say this to flex or rub in the things I’m doing, but instead as a reality check for me. Some of my work and little things have been stressing me out a little bit, but when I take a step back and realize all that God has blessed me with, I honestly don’t even know what to say. I easily could have been a person born with a mental illness into a terrible family, be pushed out onto the streets from a young age trying to figure out how to navigate while not having my brain fully there.
Perhaps I have a feeling almost resembling survivor syndrome. Instead of asking God why he’s challenging me so much in these times, I feel like I should be asking Him why he’s blessed me so much. I am so unworthy.
I hope someday, when I may be challenged in ways that I never have been before, I’ll be able to come back and look on this and see the many ways that God has blessed me and that I wouldn’t lose sight of His goodness. It simply may look different in different seasons of life.
Thank you God for who you are and what you’ve done for me.
A good antonym of gratefulness is entitlement. A good definition is – letting others know by my words & actions how they have benefited my life. Jesus one time healed 10 lepers and only one returned to thank Him. Although I don’t think this is in God’s Word primarily to provide percentages, it does seem to often be the case that only about 10% of people are consistently grateful. Many people live most of their life with more of an entitlement attitude than a thankful heart. I’m glad you’re among the 10%!