Count Your Blessings
Count Your Blessings
“When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Chorus
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.
When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.”
I really like this hymn because it is an excellent reminder about perspective. All of us can have the tendency to focus on what is wrong with our lives rather than what is right with our lives. I have wondered if maybe this song should be re-written for our generation and our society. Here are a couple of modified titles:
- “Count your Problems” – Have you ever been in this camp? Your list of things that are wrong with the world or wrong with your life is extremely long. We go to the Lord in prayer, and tell Him all of the things that He needs to fix that are broken with our lives. We wonder if He has forgotten about us and our needs so we feel we need to remind Him of the areas in our life that need some help.
- “Count Someone Else’s Blessings” – How about this camp? Do you find yourself asking God why others are blessed in certain areas? Do you sometimes wonder why people that aren’t faithful to the Lord are still blessed? This is also a bad place to be. This attitude can come from envy and jealousy which should not be a part of any Christian’s life. We also need to understand that one person’s blessing might be another person’s curse. The physical talent that Roger Clemens has on the baseball field may be viewed as a blessing by some. However, the turmoil his family is going through right now is definitely a curse. Many wealthy people in the world are miserable on the inside. Jesus said “What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his soul?” Don’t be concerned about the “perceived” blessings others have. Focus on yours.
Finally, I wanted to end with a short list of blessings in my life. Some are big. Some are small. Some are funny. I encourage you to take a few minutes and jot down some of the blessings in your life and share them with someone. This practice will “remind you what the Lord has done.”
Blessings – Health, Christ, The Bible, A Loving Wife that puts up with my humor, Three Beautiful Kids, Air Conditioning, Hershey’s Dark Chocolate, Hiking in the mountains, Krispy Kreme donuts, Satellite Radio, Parents who are still married after 40 years, 3 Brothers, The Oklahoma Sooners, Ham and Turkey at Thanksgiving, and finally, Hymns.