Devotionals

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I put my glasses on this morning and something about them wasn’t quite right. When I took them off soon after, I noticed that one of the small plastic mounts that rest on the side of my nose, was missing. I thought about how I’d taken my glasses off last night in the dark bedroom and had felt a tiny hard piece of who-knows-what, bounce onto my hand and then onto the bed. I assumed it must have been a little beetle that had lodged in my hair during the night. It had been a warm summer’s evening and there were lots of insects flying around the lights.

But now in the morning, noticing the absence of this plastic piece, I realised what that stray particle had been. I went to the still unmade bed and pulled back the blankets carefully. I quickly found the plastic piece and was so relieved! I held it up to the frame and saw where the piece was supposed to attach. Uh-oh, a minute screw was needed. I guessed it could have worked its way loose over time and could have fallen out anywhere in the house, with just the pressure of the glasses resting on my nose to hold the piece in place.

Anyway, I continued straightening up the bed, and wondered how I could get the glasses fixed. The local optometrist could have the right size screw, but my last repair request left me with a large screw poking up out of the frame like a bolt on the neck of Frankenstein’s monster. They seemed to make a pretty slack effort at customer relations. Then I remembered the optometrist’s shop had recently closed down! They had sent out a letter, stating the high cost of maintaining a wage for the optometrist compared with the low income derived from this area. So much for providing essential services to rural areas. In my head I was having a good whinge about them and my glasses.

I like whingeing – it makes me feel so much better about myself when I put others down and justify all my terrible behaviour due to the problems of others. I also feel like a modern-day martyr as I dwell on the ‘trials’ I’ve had, and this little pity party makes me look for acknowledgement from others. I don’t want much - just a medal for heroism would be in order. I was remembering the terrible pair of glasses I had years ago that had a similar missing nose mount and my skin actually got a permanent sore from the metal rubbing against it. I also had only one arm on the frame as the other had fallen off and I couldn’t afford to get a new pair. I held the glasses on with a piece of string tied from one arm that went behind my head and looped over my ear. What a terrible deprived life I’ve had; I’ve endured so much hardship, I moaned to myself, subconsciously at least. But then I checked myself.

Already I had found a small transparent plastic piece for my glasses that had rolled around in bed with me all night. What a blessing! But instead of being thankful, I was moaning about the piece I didn’t have. And by whingeing about the lost piece, I really had lost peace.

How rude, to reject the blessing God gave me. How negative, to worry about all the possible bad options I could imagine. I wondered if there were other areas in my life where I was holding back God’s blessings due to my negative attitude.

Instead of looking at the positives, I have been known to look at the negatives. I tend to slip into ‘drama-queen’ mode quite easily and see World War III on the horizon when things don’t work out the way I plan. I pray for a solution, but often I continue thinking negatively about the result. Perhaps things have started to change for the better, with God’s direction, but I haven’t been able to see it due to my pessimism. And I know that for myself, I can’t expect God to do wonders in my life when I haven’t accepted or appreciated His previous efforts.

I realised it was time I stopped worrying or complaining about bad situations. Next time I prayed for some issue, I resolved to be positive, have faith and expect the best to happen. For that is what God says. He has wonderful plans for my future, and I know that all things will work out for the good, as long as I love and serve God. And if God says it, I believe it!

I’m glad I had that realisation, even for my current problem. For when I started being thankful for the part of my glasses that I’d found, God opened my eyes and I found that tiny screw, also. A little adjustment with a screw-driver and all was back together. Finally, I found my peace.


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"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 (NIV)

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