Unnoticed Blessings & The Annoyances that Bring Perspective

I’ve been finding that little annoyances can bring perspective. Getting a cold. Sleeping wrong and having a sore neck the next day. Having your car break down. Getting a pimple in the middle of your forehead.

I recently had the flu, and it completely debilitated me. After throwing up all night, I was surprisingly weak and dead tired the next two days. Even in that tiny amount of time, it’s crazy how much life a person can miss—classes, being with family and friends, working.

The point of it all is, I think God was trying to tell me something. I had become

somewhat indifferent to gratitude. As a result of His constant blessing in my life, I had come to expect things to usually go pretty well. For example, I completely took my health for granted. . . I honestly can’t remember the last time I had thanked him for it. Now I realize what a crazy blessing it is just to wake up feeling normal!

This verse has stuck with me in the past few days:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. {James 1:17 ESV}

What a great reminder: every good thing comes straight from God. The blessings we have are not there because we deserve them or have any right to them at all. They are there because God is good and has chosen to shower humanity with that goodness. While our circumstances may shift and change throughout life, there is no variation or shadow in our Father’s light and goodness.

Next time you run into an annoyance, grab hold of the perspective God is bringing you. There are so many blessings that go unnoticed until something goes wrong. Take the time to intentionally thank God for those things right now! He is the giver of all.
​
​
. . .he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. {Acts 17:25}