Thursday, June 22, 2023
On the other side of your complaint is another person’s prayer. Someone would trade places with you, even in your worst circumstance. The quadriplegic would likely take your perfectly working body. The unemployed would likely take your “dead-end” job, if they could. The lonely widow would love the company of your “boring” boyfriend. On the other side of your woes about losing money in the Stock Market are the prayers of those who wish they had money to buy something to eat. On the other side of your worry about embarrassing yourself in front of a group, is the prayer of someone who would like the opportunity to even have a group that would hear him.
Your so-called crappy car, rickety apartment, and tattered clothing are luxury items for 650 million people globally, that live in abject poverty. If you are vitriolic about politics, and you cannot stand those who hold office, I’m certain there are many in Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, and other oppressed countries that would trade places with you.
Are your prayers simply a request for more dessert? It’s good to have goals, but begging for advancement is like asking for more whipped cream on an overly sweet life; while real suffering is going on all around you. Which side of the prayer are you on, gratitude or displeasure because you don’t have it “good enough?” Why not pray for a good attitude, strength to adapt, ways to give more, and a spirit to endure? And then, wake up and thank the good Lord for everything that you have, even the worst of it. What you consider your worst is a luxury to those who are worse off than you. Whatever you think is “horrible,” has another side. A destitute person living in a deplorable corner of the impoverished world would find your biggest complaint to be their greatest blessing. Recalibrate your prayers.