Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

Lets be honest, life just stinks sometimes. Bad stuff happens. Things don’t seem to go as planned. When those times come (and they will come), our reaction is often “why me?”…in other words, me-centered. We get caught in the despair, sadness, and other emotions that we fail to see the bigger picture.

I confess that this has been my attitude of late. I have had a few rough turn of events in my life over the past 6 months or so. Things haven’t according to my plan. Things aren’t turning up roses for me. I look at all things happen, and say, “Why me?”

I started off this blog post with the old song “Count Your Blessings.” It seems trite, I know. Trust me, I occasionally want to throttle someone who tries to cheer me up by saying, “But think of how blessed you are!” Still, its true that we often miss all the good stuff that is happening because we are caught up in the little bit of bad stuff that we’re dealing with.

One of my friends earlier this week had a facebook status update that really resonated with me (I can’t remember who it was. If it was you and you read this, leave a comment and I’ll probably credit you…or delete it and claim it as my own). They said that sometimes we get so caught up in the tree right in front of us that we miss the sun behind it. Our problems may seem big at the time, but none of them are bigger than God.

So when you are caught up in life’s problems, take a few moments to step back and try to see the bigger picture of God’s love. Look at all the great things that God has provided for you. If necessary, write them down. Be specific. When you see all that you have to be thankful for, you will see that God is doing great things in your life.

Please understand, this isn’t to minimize your pain. Life is rough, and bad things happen that can be very traumatic. God is not saying, “Forget your pain.” He is saying that even through the pain He is there for you. So, count your blessings, and name them one by one, and see what God has done!