A Blessing

When I was in college I went on a mission trip to Northern Ireland. One of my teammates had an interesting habit. Whenever anything difficult or bad happened, she'd just smile and say "What a blessing!"

* We get a flat tire - "What a blessing!"
* It pours rain - "What a blessing!"
* Our van was broken into and wallets stolen - "What a blessing!"

At the begining of the trip, most of us rolled our eyes whenever she said this. But gradually it began to affect us. By the end we were all saying it with her!

When I got home, I continued this habit...for a while. But eventually I reverted to my old habits of complaining or frustration. Ocassionally the Lord would remind me of this phrase and I'd try again to use it.

Then today I realized something - Jesus never had a bad attitude!
- not when He was mocked or persecuted
- not when His disciples did stupid things
- not when the Pharisees tried to "trap" Him into saying something wrong...

Jesus always had the perfect response to every situation. Maybe that's because He knew His Father is in control of all things. And living in the Father's care is always a "blessing."

Now, through Jesus, we have the same privilege as Jesus - to live in God's perfect care, love, acceptance and favor. Everything that happens to us comes through His gracious hands. And we even have Jesus living in us!

We have everything we need to be able to lay down our bad attitudes and to say at all times, in all things - "What a blessing!"

Will you join me? Let's start a "blessing" revolution! =)

"From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another." -John 1:16
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