Too Many Blessings to Count 

As I took a walk through our neighborhood, I approached one stretch of the roadway thickly overrun with leaves from a nearby tree. If I hadn’t veered off from my route near the edge of the curb, I would have had to wade through an ankle-deep pool of those familiar multicolored symbols of the autumn season. We usually don’t think about how many leaves adorn the trees around us until they are released to cover our lawns. Raking them up has to be one of my least favorite yard jobs. However, what if we were tasked with not only removing those leaves from our landscape but counting them as we did so? That would be a long, arduous, and maybe even impossible job. There are just too many of them to count.

We are also in the season in which we are often encouraged to count our blessings. It is one thing to pause to lift up a general prayer to our Father thanking Him for all the wonderful and gracious things He has done for us, lumping all of our blessings in one big pile that we dump out before Him with gratitude. However, there can be some value in pinpointing those blessings one-by-one. I can’t see any good purpose served by counting the leaves as I rake them up, but we could benefit from enumerating our blessings and focusing on them individually. Going through that process might help us better recognize just how gracious God has been to us and how much we truly have to be thankful for.

We have a tendency to focus on our problems, pains, and challenges. When we get together with others, we can be quick to compare our lists of complaints. But wouldn’t it be more encouraging both to us and to those around us, if we gave more attention to the good things in our lives? What if we shared more about the multitudinous ways God has shown His goodness to us? What if we gratefully enumerated our blessings to the same extent that we tend to whine about our health issues or our relationship problems or our complaints about the government?

Take a moment right now to zero-in on some of the individual blessings in your life. Don’t overlook your health, no matter what physical issues you may be facing. You are breathing. Your heart is beating. So much of your body is functioning in the miraculous way God created it to work. Thank God for eyes that see, ears that hear, a brain that still works, most of the time. You could spend quite a while just focusing on the blessings of your physical life and health.

Then consider how God has provided for you. We may not have everything we want, but God has been faithful to supply our needs. If we have food on the table, a roof over our heads, a warm place to sleep, we have been greatly blessed. Take a look at the material things you possess. Other people may have more, but many have less. Take note of each item, each appliance, each device, all those things that make your life more convenient and enjoyable.

Think of the people in your life – family, friends, neighbors. They aren’t perfect, but you are blessed to have a relationship with many of them. Picture each one – each parent, each child, each grandchild, each friend, each fellow church member. You are blessed.

Most of all, consider Jesus and all the blessings related to His love for you. If you know Him as your Savior, the spiritual blessings of forgiveness, peace, joy, comfort, hope and so much more are priceless.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Keep counting. It might just change your whole perspective of life.