And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will charge in after the Israelites. My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, his chariots, and his charioteers.(Exodus 14: 17, NLT)
Many Americans are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow . . . taking time to eat a specially prepared meal with friends and family . . . around a table . . . giving thanks together. While eating with friends and family continues to be a part of the holiday, fewer individuals spend time verbalizing gratefulness. Actually, there will be more Americans stressed over what seems to be going wrong than grateful for the life they have received. Stress easily overpowers gratefulness.
The plight of stressed-out Americans can only change through a broadened perspective of what life is really about. Is that possible? While I have no statistics to back me up, it seems that many Americans tend to get cranky when things are not working out and crazed when there are too many things to work out.
Well, then again, all of humanity does seem to have dealt with the cranky-crazed issue throughout the course of history. The book of Exodus records the people of God being cranky and crazed; however, in the course of time . . . they chose to seek God rather than to stay focused on the details that they percieved to have gone wrong . . . for a while . . . and they were promised to see God. Of course, the Egyptians were also cranky and crazed, unable to see beyond their personal lives. Things were not working out and there was too much to work out.
The Egyptians were afraid for themselves when they liberated their slaves. They did not have a warm-good-feeling from doing the right thing and freeing their slaves. Liberation meant that their productivity would decrease while their personal work load would increase and their economy would take a no-return nose dive. Yikes!
The Egyptians were enslaved to their problems to the point that they became a problem to the children of God. When you and I focus on our needs, desires, and problems, our perspective narrows and our awareness of God decreases. We can either be cranky and crazed over the circumstances of life or give thanks to God . . . a simple choice.
Refocus.
Refuse to focus on whatever has "gone wrong."
Focus on God.
Give thanks.
Learning with you to focus on God and give thanks,
Shalom,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2007 All Rights Reserved)
