being thankful.

One Sunday morning I was watching Joel O'Steen preaching on TV. And the story he started off with was of a certain individual( can't remember if it was a man or a woman)This person could not talk and was bed-ridden. If he/she wanted something to be done for him he would scream. He/she had a different scream for each task. The most difficult scream to attend to was when the person had an itch. Sure enough he would scream and the attendant would come but would never know where to scratch.

Too many a time we take things for granted and we forget to give thanks for the simplest tasks. Everyday I would thank God for the breath of life and all the other things he has blessed me with, up until I began to tell myself that my prayer was redundant and I stopped thanking God for the breath of life.

A few nights back, I was having difficulty breathing. I tried taking my puffers and that did not work. My chest felt so tight as though someone was standing on it. Then it hit me - at any point this could be the end of me. As I was gasping for breath, I suddenly realized how important it is.

Yesterday I went to see my cousin who hasn't been feeling well. When I saw her I almost fainted. Up until yesterday I had never seen or heard of the disease she has. She has ulcer like sores all over her face, and other parts of her body. The disease is a rare condition called Behcet's disease. There is no known cause and nore cure for it. Treatments available are to ease pain and inflammation. It is a chronic disease and she might go into remission and it could relapse.

So many times we complain about petty little things in life yet there are people who have it worse of than us. There are many people suffering in this world be it incurable diseases, wars famine, oppression, floods, and other natural diseases, yet we never realize how good we have it. We never give thanks, let alone lift up all those suffering people up in prayer. Remember the parable of the ten pounds (Luke 19:11- 27)... the servant who never used his was stripped off of his pound and it was given to the servant who had ten pounds.

If you do not appreciate what God has blessed you with he will take it away from you and HE will bless someone who is more appreciative of his blessings.