Wednesday, May 28, 2008

BLESSINGS

I often hear, "I am reminded that I am so blessed" in reference to an experience in a developing country. That comment has started to bother me. It has been a little while now that something about that graded on my nerves as I heard it. Finally, I was able to process it out with Joe today.
"I am blessed"= air conditioner, unlimited amount of food, TV, and a nice house. When we say we are blessed we are basing our blessings on material things. That is a shame. Granted, we would be ignorant not to recognize that we have more and our more makes things easier a lot of times. However, looking only at material blessings ignores what truly enrich our lives.
As Joe mentioned, slowing down our lives like is often done here can create positive relationships. I have been able to build relationships with people here because of the slowed down lifestyle. That is hard for us to recognize as a blessing.

Also, as one of the missionaries mentioned the people are more likely to feel dependent on God because they do not have 401 (k) plans and as structured life styles. This environment provides a context to develop a trust in God we are unable to develop.

I suppose what I am trying to say is spiritual blessings are what should be placed as most important in our lives. Measuring how we are blessed because we have more material things removes us from recognizing what is truly important in life.

1 comment:

KHartman said...

I agree, Justin. I was in Nicaragua last year, and I could have stayed if my family had been with me. The people there were so happy. They didn't have material things, but they had each other. And they were so open to learning about Jesus. They were able to put trust in him because they had to. He could become their "all in all" because they have no one else. We have become so dependent on ourselves and our material "blessings" that we lose sight of our Father. I want JUST God to satisfy and complete me--just like the people I served in Nicaragua.