In my everyday interaction with people, most lack contentment with what God has done for them. I realize that a lack of appreciation for God’s ever-loving mercies for making us see every day could deny us heavenly blessings. Five of every ten people we meet daily are likely to lament the nation’s economic woes and regret being Nigerians. I also believe that the bane of our society is partly due to being ungrateful to God for what we have and who we are.
I met Dave, a well-dressed middle-aged person, at a workshop. Dave talked beautifully about the parents, the wife, the kids, and God’s faithfulness in providing for their needs. After the presentation of my paper, he said, ‘excellent presentation.’ From his behavior, I could see a typical sanguine personality. We struck a chord of friendship for the next two days, and he invited me to meet with his family. I obliged.
The first thing that struck me when we came out of the lounge was his car. The car from my assessment had seen the best and worst of days. The interior was begging for refurbishment. When we set out, I thought we were heading for a highbrow area of the city. What I thought would take a short while turned into twists and turns as we headed for the suburb’s remotest and most densely populated outskirts of the town. My mind started racing. I was confused and didn’t know what to expect anymore.
When we arrived, the boy he called ‘my first son’ wore clothes that were not what many children his age would want to wear. He took the dad’s bag from him and asked, ‘how was your day, dad? Dave introduced me to the son, and the smiles and respect were profound. Next, the wife and the parents were in that order. One thing they all had in common was huge smiles and welcoming gestures.
Dave is a tall and handsome man. His wife was his direct opposite. Yet, the kiss and hug when she came out were mind-blowing. The father is a security man, and the mother is a petty trader who just came from the village for a visit that will last a few days. The home was immaculate but sparsely furnished. Yet this guy said God gave him everything, and he remains grateful.
Many of us are the opposite of Dave. We are hardly satisfied with what we have. We are scarcely grateful for the gifts of life, the beautiful bodies, and our healthy family. We see money as the yardstick of God’s benevolence and answered prayers. We leave our houses angry and bitter as if God owes us more gold and silver. Children heap blames on their parents, call them names, and wish for better parents and vise-versa. So, some of the reasons we miss God’s opportunities and blessings is that even with the little we have, we are not thankful to our creator. Yet, we are undeserving of His favors because we were rebellious children at a point in our lives. We feel God is not fair to our businesses and our families. We want to be like family A or family B. We would have wished to have a 2022 model car instead of driving the type of Dave’s car.
The lack of appreciation for what we have, plus the bitterness inhabiting the chambers of our hearts, is enough to drive far from us any other blessings. Some people sometimes quarrel with God to the extent that they stop worshipping God. They are too busy to say thank you for journey mercies, for the gift of a meal where others are on perpetual economic imposed fasting. We forget that without us, God’s work won’t stop. Instead, we are removing ourselves from the vineyard of God’s blessings. God did not promise us a life without difficulties, but he promised to be with us in all our challenges and that the problems will not consume us.
Some children become so disrespectful to their parents and even go further to abuse them. That is the quickest way to poverty and miserable life. The first commandment with a promise is to honor your father and mother so that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth. (Ephesians 6:3) Children quickly forget that they inadvertently compound their problems when they dishonor their parents. Dishonoring parents is an abomination in the sight of God. The more you hate and dishonor your parents, the more you drain your blessings. So, the first blessings of God to a child stream from genuine and abundant love towards their parents. No wonder some of us have continuously escaped the dangers of life.
When parents, out of the hurt of their children’s disrespect to them, curse their children, they compound family challenges because the aftermath will hurt everyone in the end. Parents! no matter what our children do to us, let us not fail to show them love, and we should not stop praying for them.
My encounter with Dave (not his real name) has changed my paradigm about life’s struggles. If we all behaved like Dave with kind words for his family and his massive thanksgiving appetite for God’s, mercies and kindness, Nigeria could have been a better place.
The experience is life-changing and thought I could also share them with others. Lord, wherever we have not behaved like Dave, we ask for your forgiveness as I thank you for all you have done and keep doing for me, my family, those reading my post, and their families. Amen.
Grace and peace!!
