I have two sons that are only 8 months apart in age. Things can be a little hectic at home. The stresses of having a 13 month old and a 5 month old can at times impact my attitude. In other words, I am on occasion un-thankful.
This is quite ironic in the light of a recent request my pastor made last week - he asked me to lead the "Thanksgiving" portion of our prayer service. I am grateful that he asked as the preparation was quite cathartic.
In the days leading up to the prayer service and during my preparation, DFW experienced the snow storm of the century. 12.5 inches of snow fell in 24 hours - a new record for my hometown. It left several without electricity for days.
It is easy for us as Americans to become un-Thankful. When we go a few days without power or “suffer” through a winter storm, or have two children in a year, our hearts can be impacted.
This led to an epiphany -Perspective is often necessary for thankfulness. As a mission pastor, what is better to bring perspective than to look around the world and compare our standard of living to the one experienced by the majority of the people.
Therefore, I turned to a trusted source, "Basic Training for Mission Teams" a training manual published by Lifeway in conjunction with the International Mission Board.
How is this for a little perspective?
If our world had only 100 people
- 80 would live in substandard housing
- 67 would be unable to read
- 60 would be malnourished
- 1 would have a college education
- 7 would possess 59% of the entire world’s wealth; all 7 would live in the US
- 70 would be non-Christian; 30 would be Christian
- 30 would have little or no access to the gospel.
God consistently reminds me how fortunate I am. I hope this information will encourage you to be more thankful in your prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment