Ramona did it yet again. She found herself looking around, comparing her life to everyone else's. She was married, but her husband didn't make as much money as her friend's spouse. She was a mother, but her children weren't as well behaved as her neighbor's children. She had a degree, but she wasn't working her career like her brother's wife. She could cook and bake very well, but the church never asked her to assist with any of the church functions like some of the other sisters in the church and so for Ramona, she seemed to get the short end of the stick all the time.
What Ramona didn't realize was that her friend Susie, who was single, wished she could have someone to go home to at night. She didn't consider her friend Mary, who longed to have a child at least growing in her womb. She also didn't see that her brother's wife was stressed out at work and longed to be at home raising her children. More importantly she completely overlooked that the pastor never called on her to assist with the kitchen because he knew how integral she was to the intercessory team and didn't want to take her time away from prayer as it was most critical.
Like Ramona, so many of us sit back comparing our lives to friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, fellow church members and the like. We sit in wonderment asking God the one resounding question, "why her? why him? why not me? and what's wrong with me?" We ask these questions because we don't want to deal with our own disgruntled attitude of ingratitude. We may not see it as such, but having a disposition that focuses on this world, means that we're not caught up with the Savior. It means that we are not consumed by His word and well simply put it says: He's not enough!
Colossians 3:2, however, encourages us to set our affections or rather our thoughts on things that are above and not on this world because looking around at what others have and what we don't have is a good recipe for jealousy, envy, strife, discontentment, ungratefulness, anger, and ultimately hate. Hate can lead to self-hate which can then turn into bitterness and depression. Why spiral into this deep place of darkness when we can simply look up and see His love, His protection, His provision, His peace, His joy, His strength, His boldness, His authority, and His power. When we see that kind of love and omnipotence who has time to think about what we don't have or what someone else has? We don't!
Today let us look up and be grateful for what we do have while God prepares us for what He has in store for us!
What Ramona didn't realize was that her friend Susie, who was single, wished she could have someone to go home to at night. She didn't consider her friend Mary, who longed to have a child at least growing in her womb. She also didn't see that her brother's wife was stressed out at work and longed to be at home raising her children. More importantly she completely overlooked that the pastor never called on her to assist with the kitchen because he knew how integral she was to the intercessory team and didn't want to take her time away from prayer as it was most critical.
Like Ramona, so many of us sit back comparing our lives to friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, fellow church members and the like. We sit in wonderment asking God the one resounding question, "why her? why him? why not me? and what's wrong with me?" We ask these questions because we don't want to deal with our own disgruntled attitude of ingratitude. We may not see it as such, but having a disposition that focuses on this world, means that we're not caught up with the Savior. It means that we are not consumed by His word and well simply put it says: He's not enough!
Colossians 3:2, however, encourages us to set our affections or rather our thoughts on things that are above and not on this world because looking around at what others have and what we don't have is a good recipe for jealousy, envy, strife, discontentment, ungratefulness, anger, and ultimately hate. Hate can lead to self-hate which can then turn into bitterness and depression. Why spiral into this deep place of darkness when we can simply look up and see His love, His protection, His provision, His peace, His joy, His strength, His boldness, His authority, and His power. When we see that kind of love and omnipotence who has time to think about what we don't have or what someone else has? We don't!
Today let us look up and be grateful for what we do have while God prepares us for what He has in store for us!
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