Interesting Observations

Over the past few months I've started to pick-up on some things that I normally had overlooked in my life.  It's unbelievable how lucky I am to be where I'm at.  It's unbelievable how lucky I am to have a house that is far bigger than what I absolutely need.  It's unbelievable that how lucky I am to have a truck that is reliable and a car that has lasted for years.  I could continue on and on with how lucky I am to have so many things.  My wife, my job, my friends, and on and on.

I have seen so many people over the last few weeks who are not nearly as fortunate as I am when it comes to the material and monetary things, but they seem to be at even par with me on the friends for the most part.  Not having as much, it forces a person to rely on each other, to put trust in other people, and to truly trust in God.  And yet I can go through life and live by my own means, not having to put an ounce of trust in God because I do everything I can to take care of myself.

I used to thank God for the blessings that He gave me.  Thank God that He put me in the United States, with a loving family that raised me in the Church and showed me what it meant to be successful.  And I am still thankful for the things that God has provided for me, but I now see the burden that they can create when it comes to my relationship with Him.  I see how my prayers used to sound a lot like the Pharisee in Luke 18 that thanks God he was not like the Tax Collector.  I see how I am a lot like the rich man who Jesus told to sell everything.  I see how so many of us are those people throughout the Bible and yet we read God's Word as though we're the oppressed, poor, disliked Hebrews.

I think I'm starting to see how God wants me to see and not through my own broken eyes.