Never doubt that God has a sense of humor.
It’s something I’ve always believed and every now and then, He proves it. Just today in fact, He made me laugh out loud — and I was all by myself in the kitchen.
On this sizzling hot, muggy day, I’d just filled a glass with crushed ice and poured a nice, tall glass of Diet Dr Pepper, the daily dose of caffeine that keeps me from having to prop up my eyelids with toothpicks at 7 a.m. (In my defense, I’m up most mornings by 4:30.) I opened the book of daily meditations I like to read, and as I did so, the longed-for soda foamed up and spilled all over the counter.
After wiping up the puddle, I turned to the book’s entry for the day: “Draw near to Me with a thankful heart, aware that your cup is overflowing with blessings.” Ha!
Really, God. You crack me up sometimes.
And that’s a good thing. Being a generally earnest, serious-minded person who happens to be married to, let’s face it, a clown, I need to work on getting more belly laughs into my day.
But as I sip my less-than-full glass, I realize, the mediation based on Psalm 23 has it right: My cup is indeed overflowing with blessings. It’s a perspective I’ve gained being married to a man who hails from a developing country and who came to the United States with little more than a pair of Levi’s, a couple of T-shirts and some tuition money gleaned from his father’s pension.
Growing up, I never went to bed hungry or had to make do without textbooks or roller skates or a bike. I can’t say the same for my beloved. He’s taught me and our five sons that the everyday things most of us take for granted are incredible blessings from God.
Complaining when we’ve been the beneficiaries of such an outpouring reveals an ungrateful, sad heart that’s a bit too small. It leads to a vague sense of ennui, of dissatisfaction and self-pity.
Gratitude, on the other hand — even and most especially in the face of difficulty — has a way of expanding the heart and taking us out of ourselves. It helps us draw closer to Christ, who knows what we need even before we think to ask Him. But I truly believe He holds us even closer when we praise Him and thank Him for the many good things in our lives. Family, health, work, a home, the freedom to practice our faith — all of these gifts we don’t appreciate, or, worse, don’t even recognize.
Perhaps the greatest blessing of all is knowing Him in a way that His love and wisdom and purpose speak to us in those ordinary moments of our lives, like pouring a delicious drink on a simmering hot day and laughing as we realize He enjoys making us smile.
How shall we thank Him this day? I don’t know about you but I feel a song bubbling up in my heart.
