20 November | Youth
«In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.» 1 Thessalonians 5:18
A few years ago, a radio station in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, distributed stickers for cars that read: “I’ve already been robbed!” When I lived in São Paulo, I saw several cars of church members with that sticker. In response to this, a pastor asked a large church why members did not add stickers to their cars with the phrase, “I've already been blessed!”
Many people like to emphasize the negative. Some approach others saying: “There is a big problem there!” And things are not always that serious. Sometimes we worry about something we are missing, like money to pay bills, clothes to go to a party, the latest technology, but we do not realize that we have many things to be grateful for.
Start counting the blessings in your life and you will realize that you have plenty of reasons to praise. Let us cultivate the habit of looking at what we have instead of only looking at what we do not have. As Christians, we are more blessed than the average person. Even facing difficulties, we count on the wonderful presence of God who calms us with peace and hope.
We need to learn to be grateful for the simple things in life and recognize everything the Lord has done for us. Say to yourself every morning: “I am very blessed!” Some say that in his childhood, Blaise Pascal came into the house panting and said: “Daddy, God did a miracle in my life today!” “What did God do, son?”, asked the father. “I was riding a horse, I fell, and I did not get hurt.” Then the father replied, “God performed an even greater miracle for me today, son. I rode a horse and did not fall!”
We need to be grateful not only for God's extraordinary acts on our behalf, but also for the beautiful things He does in our daily lives. The blessings are so many that it is impossible to count them. We should be grateful for everything.