by Julia Post
When I was in middle school, we noticed that I was having trouble seeing things in class, so my parents took me to get my eyes checked. We discovered that my vision was pretty bad, and I was in extreme need of contacts or glasses.
I remember the exact moment when they put the right lenses on my eyes. The minute I had them on, I was was able to look through the front doors of the office and see the trees across the street. Not only that, I could see the leaves on the trees — even their definition, their color, and their shape. I was truly amazed. I remember asking ‘Is this what you’re supposed to see? Does everyone see the leaves?!’ I walked through school that next day, and was amazed that I could now recognize faces in the hallway — before, everyone had been a blur. I had no idea that it wasn’t supposed to be that way.
My view of the entire world changed that day, with the addition of a lens.
Have you heard the little saying, “If the whole world stinks, check under your own nose?” It is true that we can go through life with complaints and ungratefulness in our hearts without it having anything to do with what we’re complaining about, but rather, the way we are looking at it.
What are some things in your life that you find uncomfortable right now? What are the things that are a ‘thorn in your side’, irritate you, or cause you to complain? What is something that you are unsatisfied with right now?
Could it be that we could look at them differently? If we chose to put on a lens of gratitude through which to see our situations, it would change us. It would bring joy.
With a heart of gratitude, God can make things clear to you; the things that were once blurry He can define. He can help you see things that you didn’t see before, and give color to what was dull and grey. It’s the way we are supposed to live; it’s the way He designed us.
Put on a new lens of thankfulness. It will change you. Exercise the muscle of a grateful heart today, and don’t let it weaken. In that place is where we win and are strong. Let’s ask God today to make us more thankful than we’ve ever been before.
“I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.” –Philippians