SMILES IN THE SHADOWS

It can be difficult if you are feeling you live in a cave and perennial darkness to find a reason to smile. Now some seem to do this easier than others.

I was listening to the radio on the way home from work this morning. The person doing the talking was discussing the meaning of life.

Now I did agree that without the Lord you never truly will have that sense of completion. So many you can see the emptiness in their eyes.

They are rich in the things of this life, but not happy. They have all that one is told is needed to find joy, but have none.

Now this given speaker was advancing the view that the true Christian life meant one lived to its fullest. Meaning, happy and abundant.

Well, the longer I listen the more the speaker brought the message to a predictable level. Basically how purpose in life meant you would have what you really wanted if you followed the Lord.

I thought back to those in scripture who followed the Lord. Some were martyred. Others spent lives in hardships.

And these included many who were truly loved of God. I had to ask me, was I more deserving of blessings than these might souls of faith?

That was hardly a difficult question to answer. I would never see myself as even worthy of being mentioned with their names.

But despite whatever problems I had, they are often no where near as demanding as those some of these biblical characters faced. It does humble one to see that truth.

However, when we live in a land of prosperity and see it abound in so many places it does affect our frame of reference. That I understand.

It is to bad though that more emphasis isn't place on blessings that don't have a price tag. The spiritual gifts that touch so deeply.

Never heard anyone giving thanks for being rich in peace or love. Of celebrating it in a way as if it really was a joy.

I imagine there are a lot of churches where if you got up and wanted to share that as a blessing it wouldn't bring smiles. Might bring a few strange looks.

Still it is truly a blessing. Even if we don't look at it that way when counting the numbrs in our checkbook.