A Sore Knee and a Thankful Heart

I was in need of a little peace and quiet last week, so took a drive to the outskirt of town to Newton Lake.  I wish that this was a better picture, because the rock formation is a deep rust color, which contrasted beautifully with the yellow of the weeds around the shore, and the snow on the mountain...

Have I mentioned before that I have three, count 'em, THREE dogs?  Not just little dogs, mind you, but three BIG dogs.  Two golden retrievers and a mutt.  Two of these dogs aren't even mine, they belong to my son.  But he can't have dogs where he lives, so they became my dogs, sort of by default.

Don't get me wrong...I love dogs.  But three is a little much.  It is hard to get anything done without them following me all over the place. My husband calls them my 'entourage'.  Which brings me to my point...they were racing around the back yard when I was taking laundry off my clothesline last week, and my right knee took a direct hit from the biggest golden retriever.

My knee bruised, it swelled, and every bend of it is painful.  And since you can't move without bending your knee, the injury is always uppermost on my mind.  I have about a gazillion other body parts, all working fine...but that tricky knee is my focus.  It has my complete attention!

Isn't it like that with problems in our lives?  I have been going through something that is difficult...no, it is downright hard!  It has been so hard that I have been leaning toward self pity...that is, until I was in the Walmart parking lot and saw a woman my age caring for her adult son in a wheelchair.  The Lord brought me up short.  I have a gazillion things in my life to be really, really thankful for, but my focus, and all of my attention is centered around the difficulty that I am going through.  All the things that are good in my life I was taking for granted...I was not thankful for them, or even cognizant of them.  This is not good for my mental health, horrible for my spiritual health, and God is not pleased!

Instead of focusing on the trial in my life, I need to keep my focus on God.  Instead of zeroing in on my difficulty, I need to recognize and be thankful for all the gifts God has given me, beginning with my salvation.  I need to count my blessings!  Colossians 3:15 says,

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."

A thankful heart, or a heart filled with self pity.  Focusing on the goodness of God, or the trial that has come my way.  The choice is mine...and yours.

This Thanksgiving, let's resolve to focus all of our attention on the goodness of God.  Yes, our trials are still there, but God has promised to walk through them with us.  Deuteronomy 31:8 promises,

"And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed."

What I have learned from all of this, and what I am still learning, is that when my focus is on the goodness of God, and all the blessings in my life, my trial becomes diminished in scope.  It takes it's proper place in the scheme of things, not front and foremost, but part of the part and parcel that makes up my life.  My focus has shifted from that of self pity...to that of a thankful heart. 

And that, my friends, is something to be thankful about!  DLB