I mentioned last week that we live
right next to the Irene Research Farm. And a month ago there was a
runaway fire on the farm that nearly burned down some of the houses
on the estate. But thankfully the fire was brought under control.
Now this week on the other side of the farm they burned some of the
fields that were not affected by the fire for research purposes. It
was a controlled fire, but due to the black smoke billowing out on
the horizon, it was clear that something went wrong. We went to
stand on the first floor of our house and we saw that some of the
farm workers' houses caught fire. It was a devastating sight to
see. Now due to that fire and a wind that later started blowing, a
lot of soot blew into our house once again.
Just after writing the previous
devotion I went upstairs to our bathroom to brush my teeth. And
there I saw soot lying all around in the basin and on the counters.
Instantly I was irritated, thinking when will it start raining that
all these soot can just disappear and stop coming into our home! I
was getting a bit fed up with it, due to the amount of soot we had
in our house weeks after the first fire too. Immediately the Holy
Spirit spoke in my heart and reminded me how fortunate I was. A
little bit of soot is nothing compared to the workers who lost
their homes on the farm. It felt like cold water was thrown over
me. He was absolutely right. I was ashamed at my attitude and
repented and prayed for those who lost their home.
We are all very fortunate. Just the
fact that you are reading this, tells me that you are fortunate
enough to have a computer/ tablet/ smart phone to read it from. You
are blessed to have internet, blessed to have eyes to see and you
are blessed that you are able to read. You are blessed that you are
allowed to read Christian devotions and you are blessed to have the
time to read this. We are blessed with so much and yet we can so
easily forget that.
We all are fortunate and we need to
thank God every day that we are. Paul states it in so many places,
I'll just quote Ephesians 5:20 for today:
"ALWAYS give thanks for everything
to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Live with an attitude of
thanksgiving. We have so much! A friend of mine shared her story
the other day with me and told me how she lost everything and how
she only had God left. And it made her realize, that if God is all
she had, it was enough, more than enough and she was thankful.
Get up in the morning thanking God
that you are able to get up, thank Him that you can see, thank Him
that you had a bed to sleep in and thank Him for the day to come
and that you can hold on to the promise that He will always be with
you.
Thank You Father for so much. We
are overflowing with grace and love. Thank you for blessing us.
Without You we are nothing, mere dust of the earth. But with You we
are more than conquerors! Please forgive us if we are not always as
grateful as we should be. Amen