“Counting the blessings” by Ps. Gabriel Ling on 11th Aug 2019

The book of Isaiah 63 talks about redemption and vengeance. Interestingly, one particular section which is thanksgiving takes the central stage of this chapter. The speaker gave a point about us as human being who likes to take control of our time.  Thus, he said we could fast forward the unhappy things or what we do not like in our lives and pause to dwell longer on the things that we love. A case in point is that he shared one of the examples which is sometimes we often forget the good things our spouse had done to us and instead, most of the time we remember the mistakes or wrong doings our spouse may have done. Have you been counting the blessings that the Lord had done to you? Likewise, our physical ability is a gift from the Lord (e. g. I can move, see, read etc). When we share with someone to take up the cross and follow Jesus, those whom we shared may felt that it was a burden to them. In this case, they failed to see salvation as a blessing, but rather as a burden. On the other hand, when we are in distress, our God is also in distress (Isaiah 63:9). This meant that in the midst of our suffering our God is also in distress. The speaker shared that many of us know that suffering comes as a result of sin. Suffering happens, could be according to the will of God so that someone may benefit from it. Another could be due to punishment, but for whatever reasons, our God will lift us up. So what is the central stage of our lives? Is it to complain or be grateful of what we have? Hence, let us learn to count the blessings that we have in our lives