Copyright 2014 by Bob Rogers

“How is your day going?” asks a friend.
How do you answer that question? Many people let circumstances beyond their control determine their answer to that question. If they are sick, or the weather is bad, or somebody has treated them poorly, then they decide it’s a bad day. But if their health is improving, or the weather is nice, or somebody was kind to them, then they decide it’s a good day. The problem with that approach to life, is that it allows other people to decide for us what kind of day we are having!
God’s Word teaches us a better way.  “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it,” says Psalm 118:24.  “Give thanks in everything,” we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Really? Everything? How can I give thanks for cancer or a loved one who is dying? Notice scripture does not say to give thanks for everything, but to give thanks in everything. We can give thanks to God despite our troubles, because God often works through our troubles for good, and because, as bad as things may seem, we still have many blessings around us. Many of the psalms list reasons to give thanks. Read Psalm 103, 136, and 138, and you will see what I mean.
A pastor in Illinois was grieving the death of his father. His father always had a thankful attitude. But his son didn’t feel that way. He missed his Dad terribly. His mother told her son that during the war in Korea, his father was depressed one day, and went up on a mountain. On the mountain, God spoke to his heart in prayer. He decided right there, in the midst of war, to make it his daily habit to count his blessings. It changed his life. As the mother told her son this story, they came across an old photograph of the pastor’s father in his Army t-shirt in Korea. He had a happy smile. His mother pointed to something in the background. It was a mountain. “That,” she said, “was where your father counted his blessings.”
Someone wisely said,
Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.
As Christians, we are able to do that, because we have the greatest blessing of all, the forgiveness of our sins through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” That’s blessing number one! Start there, and keep counting. On a mountain in Korea, a soldier decided to count his blessings. When and where will you do and I do the same?