Uncounted Blessings

Recently, I was a part of a study with a group of ladies where we discussed “counting our blessings.” You’ve probably been a part of or at least heard a similar discussion on how we need to be grateful and appreciative for all of the good things in our lives.

But this study added a twist…

What if God took away all of the blessings that we hadn’t thanked Him for.

Now that made me stop and think. 

There are things that I thank God for in my prayers regularly – my family, our home, our food, and this relatively easy middle-class American lifestyle I’ve been blessed to live.

And while those things are good to be thankful for, there’s a whole lot not on that list.

What if God took the rest away?

An Unnoticed Blessing

After the study, my 2-year old was riding her bike in the driveway before picking up my oldest from PreK. 

And as toddlers frequently do, she skinned her knee. 

It didn’t look too bad at first, but as I watched, droplets of blood began to seep through until her little knee was covered in crimson.

What if her blood wasn’t able to clot? 

It was something I had never ever thought about before, but that is a reality for some people on blood thinners or with other medical conditions.

I’ve never thanked God for how He has designed our blood to clot, to scab, and our bodies to heal themselves.

My girls play hard. It seems like they always have skinned knees. And if they do get the chance to heal, I’m sure the next day they’ll scrape them right back up.

Can you even imagine trying to keep your little ones from getting a scratch or scrape?! No one would make it into adulthood, I’m sure. 

The Ultimate Gift-Giver

The Bible tells us that “every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17).

Every good and perfect thing. 

I know there are a lot of good things in my life that I take for granted – my health, the seasons, the consistency of the sun rising each morning and setting in the evening, the ability to move and think, the power to love and be loved.

 So many of our blessings are so routine and consistent, that I think we forget that they’re there. We take them for granted because we get caught in thinking “that’s just how things are.” No, they’re not – it’s how they were designed.

I believe that God in his all-knowing goodness and wisdom knows that I won’t be able to recognize, let alone thank Him, for every blessing.

But you know what, He gives them freely to me anyways.

What’s even more amazing – He gives good gifts to people who don’t want to know Him…and even those who hate Him!

For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Matthew 5:45

I love to give little surprises and treats to my girls, but to someone who hates me? That’s hard for me to imagine. 

Today’s Blessings

As I write this, we’re on an airplane headed to see our family in Oklahoma. I can write a whole book of blessings around that, but briefly, that we can afford the cost of travel, that we have a mode of transportation that allows for long-distance visits, that my 2-year old is asleep in her seat (but really 🥳). 

What about the fact that when we get there, my girls will recognize and remember their family? When I was young, we’d send a VHS to our grandparents every once in awhile and pull out the photo albums, but we certainly didn’t get to FaceTime with them or send daily pictures. You may remember only having letters and postcards to keep in touch with loved ones.

So today, I want to encourage you to see things through new eyes. Try to recognize that every good thing truly is a gift. Even the simplest of things, like the ability to breathe or the healing of a skinned knee, are a gift from above.