There is a story going around right now that I find very humorous. There were three sons who wanted to help their mom celebrate her 70th birthday. They knew she had had a hard life working long hours, working diligently to bring them up and educate them, and all three of them had done well financially.
The oldest son said to his two brothers, “I just bought a house for Mom’s birthday. It’s exactly what she’s always wanted for her dream home.”
The second son said, “Well, I bought her a Mercedes in her favorite color.”
The third son took a different approach. He told his brothers, “You know how mom loves to read the Bible, so I got her a parrot that can recite any verse from the Bible. It’s a very expensive bird that was trained for 12 years to be able to do this.”
The mother’s birthday soon came and she received a wonderful gift from each of her sons. She wrote a short note to each of them to show her gratitude. The note to the first son said, “Thanks for the house, it’s wonderful. I never thought I would have such a beautiful home.”
The note to the middle son said, “Thanks for the car. I drive it every day and I love having it. People give me compliments all the time about my beautiful, shinny new car.”
The mother’s note to the youngest son said, “Thanks for the chicken. I really enjoyed the meal.”
Well, she obviously misunderstood the gift and didn’t see it for what it really was. I think we all do that at times. We have no idea how many times we have missed out on amazing blessings because we did not see them properly.
In the second chapter of Luke we read a story of God’s blessing to Simeon. God had made a promise to Simeon that he would live to see the Messiah. Well, only 8 days after Christ was born, Simeon saw him when Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the temple.
When Simeon saw the baby Messiah he knew right away who He was. He picked up Jesus and sang praises to the Lord. He knew that God had kept his promise and that he could now go home to be with the Lord.
Simeon was waiting, looking expectantly, for that Child – for that blessing. I wonder how many times I have missed the blessing because I have not been looking with the right expectations; I have not been waiting to see what God has in store for me; or perhaps I have not been looking with eyes that are seeing things from God’s perspective.
My challenge to you is to talk to God each day and ask for His help to see the blessings that He is putting in your life. Ask for His help to recognize the ways that He blesses you, and I think you will be amazed at how many blessings you see.
Dr Ann Shorb has extensive experience working with a diverse client base as a counselor. In addition she also does professional speaking and writing. Her website includes several free Christian children’s skits that she has written for use in children’s ministry.
