[serialposts]With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it got me wondering if I’m a pretty ungrateful person. The reason I need to pose that question is because when I reflect on my prayer life, am I the kind of person who spends a fair amount of time counting my blessings, or is it really a once a year affair? You see, when I think about this church planting call that God has put upon my life, the blessings of family and faith, and the abundance of food that’s going to be on my table this week, I realize I have much for which to be thankful. That is if I stop to remember.

I wonder if the blessings of God have somehow lost their significance and power for me. Why? Perhaps a part of the problem is that God’s blessings have become so commonplace in my life that I now fail to see it all together. And the result is that I have become apathetic…even expectant of it. I wonder and worry if an ungrateful attitude has crept in; and that instead of thanking God for each breath that I take and for each beat of my heart…have I come to expect God’s blessings, as if it’s something I deserve?!

Perhaps the other part is that I have some pretty strong tendencies toward self-reliance. Instead of relying on God and asking for His blessing as I follow His will; it’s easy to get caught up relying on my strength and expecting God to bless my efforts. But I don’t want to live that way. I want to live in hopeful anticipation of His blessings, but not in arrogant expectation.

But a reading of 1 Timothy 6:6-19 reminded me of a couple of things, and over the course of the next three days, I’d like to share some of those thoughts: Contentment, Kicking Complacency, and Counting our Blessings.