We are Blessed!

It occurred to me today, not for the first time, that it can be really helpful for our contentment to think about how people live that are less well off.

We have been moving all the contents of the rooms around in our house, and it is so easy to be tempted to complain or think, ‘if only’ when things aren’t exactly as you would like them to be.

But when I start to think like that my mind quickly goes to a book I read recently of missions work in Hong Kong. There were families that only had one room between them, and shared one bed. 

That would certainly make it less far to walk when the kids wake up at night, but I can think of a lot of reasons why I wouldn’t want it that way too!

So now I tell myself, ‘Well at least we’re not all in one room!’ That really puts the lid on any feelings of discontent that might come – because we are blessed! We’re blessed with so much that others don’t have, and we have no reason to complain.

And even if we had less than that, we still have food and clothing, which is all we really need.

We also have God with us – the great and powerful loving God who made the universe!

One book that was really good for me was ‘Singing Through the Night’. It contains courageous stories of Christian women living in places where there is persecution. If you read a book like this, it will take your eyes off yourself and help you realise you are blessed.

I would just like to encourage you, when you start thinking discontented thoughts of, ‘if only…things were different’, to turn your thoughts to people who are a lot worse off.

It has helped me to grow in contentment, and also to give thanks to God for what he has blessed us with. We have so much to be thankful for!