Let us gather in thanksgiving to God in spite of all our difficulties, let us count our blessings and give thanks rather than be bogged down by the challenges of life. There is the story I once read of two friends, John and Peter, who had not seen each other for a long time. After the normal exchange of pleasantries, Peter noticed that John was looking sad and morose. So he asked: John, what has the world done to you? You are not looking yourself. John answered: I will tell you. Three weeks ago, my uncle died and left me 5 million naira. So Peter answered: That’s not bad. 5 million naira is a lot of money. John replied: But you see two weeks ago, a cousin that I never knew left me 7.5 million naira. So Peter said: That’s great, it looks to me that you are much blessed. John replied: Well, last week my auntie passed away and left me 20 million naira. So Peter was confused and asked: So, why are you looking so sad then; three weeks ago, you received 5 million naira; two weeks ago 7.5 million naira and last week, you got 20 million naira? So John replied: It seems you don’t understand. This week is coming to an end and I have not received even one naira.
The friend was shocked at his friend’s attitude in much the same way as you and I must be shocked at such attitude. The fact, my dear friends, is that we can all be so much like John. We receive all the good things that the Lord sends to us and we get them so regularly that we begin to think and act as if God owes us and all that we are not grateful both for the small things and the big ones that God gives to us. Instead of being grateful, we keep count of all that we do not yet have or all that we believe we need to have. If by any chance we lose any of the gifts that we are used to receiving from Him, we begin to rave and rant. We ask: how can God allow that to happen? Is He not a good God? We even go as far as to question the integrity of God: If He is indeed good, He would not have allowed this to happen? That’s a typical human trait for us!
