Someone has said, “Good times in life become good memories, and bad times in life become good lessons.”
Dealing out unfavorable circumstances is one thing this life is very good at doing. But, it can be through these adverse circumstances that we learn our greatest lessons. It is through mistakes we can know correction; it is through weakness we can learn strength. It is the craziness in life that helps us learn to appreciate normality. It’s the downs in life that help us learn to appreciate the ups. It’s the mishaps in life that help us appreciate the blessings. And sometimes you have to stand alone before you realize who stands beside you.
As followers of Christ, we have to follow the plan God has laid out for us, and we have to stick to that plan. If we are not living by that plan, then we will end up living in the circumstances. We will never learn better ways, we will never find better paths, and we will never gain or retain better information. But, if we strive to live by God’s plan, we empower ourselves to see and live in the abundance of God’s blessings. We will learn better ways, we will find better paths, and we will open ourselves up to the most extraordinary knowledge and wisdom that is known.
I am a believer that there are blessings found even in those days of trouble. Some may say that there is a silver lining to every rain cloud. Sometimes those blessings come in obvious ways, but sometimes we must be willing to search those blessings out. We might have to fight through the vines, weeds, the muck, and the mire of those unfavorable circumstances life abundantly gives, but the blessings are there.
In Colossians 3:2, Paul gives some very encouraging information on how to locate those blessings more easily. He says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” A simple thought with tremendous implications. It would be easy to get caught up in and lost in the slumps and the troubles of this life, but Paul says not to concentrate on those things but rather set our minds on things higher.
Let faith be our guide and meditate on the hope found in Jesus. Allow the coming of Christ to comfort our weary souls, knowing that all the issues of this life will soon be over. Let the peace of God rule in our hearts. Allow those obvious and not-so-apparent spiritual blessings to strengthen and bless us. Allow God’s abundant love and grace to alleviate the anxiety of an uncertain tomorrow.
Sometimes those blessings will play hide and seek, but seeking is the key. If we set our minds on things above, then the things above will be what we find.
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