You have no idea how difficult it really is right now!

Oh the times have I felt this way.  I am certain you have felt it, too.  Pressures mount.  Friends pull away.  Stress leads to health problems.  Money gets tight, really tight.  People who should behave better go on the attack.  We see our world from the perspective of scarcity, which easily gives way to negativity.  Negativity feeds on itself until we begin to feel either despair or bitterness. “Scarcity sucks,” we think, and before long much of our world is colored with this perspective.

We long for relief.  We work harder.  We hope for the abundance we feel we need or deserve.  All the while, that abundance has been with us.  In fact, we are swimming in it.

It is easy in times like these to lose sight of just how many gifts and blessings we all have every day.  While it is true we are often beset with adversities and trials, we are even more so surrounded with gifts and blessings, mercy and supply.  As Sarah Young has written. “…you reside in a fallen world, where blessings and sorrows intermingle freely.  A constant focus on adversity defeats many…they walk through a day brimming with beauty and brightness, seeing only the grayness of their thoughts.”  She is right.  We walk through our days, days brimming with beauty and brightness, sometimes totally unaware of the life, the gifts, the opportunities, and the joys that surround us.  If we would only change our perspective from scarcity to abundance.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 

At first, being grateful and thankful in tough times is a discipline.  A sacrifice of thanksgiving.  In time, gratitude will change one’s perspective.  Thanksgiving will be flowing from a truly grateful heart.  Our God meets us in this process.  When we begin to recognize His role in the abundance of our daily lives, it is often not long until we begin to hear His voice, whispering throughout the day.  At this point we begin to realize the fullest abundance that life offers.