“We write our sorrows in the marble, our mercies in the dust.”  Pastor Greg Groeshel spoke those words, and he is right.  For too many people (Christians included), thinking about what is wrong is so much easier than thinking about their blessings.  A recent posting caused me to pause and question if any of these describe me.  Read it slowly.

“Someone is taking their last breath in a hospital bed today, and you’re frustrated sitting in traffic.

Someone is spending their first night alone after years of love, and you’re annoyed your partner left dishes in the sink.

Someone is burying their baby they carried for nine months, and you’re upset your child spilled milk on the couch.

Someone is burying their mom who created them, and you’re annoyed your mom called you twice this morning.

Someone is wishing for just one more conversation with their dad, and you’re rolling your eyes at his advice.

Perspective is everything.  Appreciate the little things because, one day, they’ll be the big things.”

Something is terribly wrong with God’s children.  We are consumed with whatever goes against our wants/needs/desires. Scripture calls us to hope, yet we are terrible hopers.  We expect the worst, so we won’t be disappointed.   “Why is life hard?  Why do others have it so much easier than I do?  They sin more, yet they have more. Nothing has turned out like I expected, so I don’t expect anything different.”

The average person has 10,000 thoughts each day.  That works out to be 3.5 million thoughts a year. If you were to categorize those as “+” or “-”, how many thoughts would be under each heading?  Think of it this way: if someone gave you $10,000 this morning and said, “Spend it any way you like as long as you spend it all before you go to bed tonight.” Hopefully, you wouldn’t just pilfer it away on meaningless junk.

So, why do we do that with our whacky thoughts that aren’t even worth thinking?  We need to focus on the abundant life God has called us to.  We can engage in either self-pity, blame, stubbornness and bitterness, or we can follow the directive of Phil. 4:8.  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.                  

How do we do that?  We put our mercies in marble and our sorrows in the dust.