Short-changed in life?

Have you ever had a bumper crop? One of those "I cannot find enough pots to store it all" kind of harvests? Probably about the last thing you want to hear at that moment is that there is more to come! You are having a hard enough time just finding ways to use all you have already been blessed to receive and now there is more to come? That's how it is with God's generosity, love, and grace - it just keeps on coming until it overflows from our lives into the lives of others!

There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! (Romans 5:3-4 MSG)

Troubles might slow us down a bit, but they aren't going to do us in. They might just challenge our fortitude and increase our faith. They might cause us to see our present capacity as an opportunity for our God to create 'space' within us for even more than contained there previously. Troubles aren't just bumps in the road to be endured - they are opportunities for us to develop greater trust, firmer convictions, and more attentive focus. 

What is God about to do next in your life? I know my 'next' may not even be close to your 'next', but together we can endure that space between now and next! The moment we partner together in this ever expanding walk, the more we can help each other stay alert for what comes next. You know, I don't always see things the way you do and vice versa. I don't always have the right perspective, even when I think I do! The same might be said about you - so we need each other as we face these challenges.

Short-changed in life? If so, maybe it isn't so much God's doing as it is ours. We might have just lost our focus a little and now we are facing troubles that seem insurmountable to us. Dare I say it - those troubles might be our 'undoing' designed specifically to get us 'doing' again what we were supposed to be doing in the first place! Every time I am feeling a little 'short-changed' in life, complaining about something in my present circumstances, I sit back for a moment and remember God is never going to be the one 'short-changing' me. If I am short-changed, it is likely my own mismanagement of what he has provided in my life. I just lost focus.

If you are feeling a little 'short-changed' right now, perhaps it is a good time to just stop and unplug a little. The moment we unplug from all the distractions that seem to only escalate those feelings that lead to those 'woe is me' moments, we begin to see that God is still in the business of bumper crops! He is still providing generously - we just need to empty out the container a little so we can have a place for what he has been providing all along. Just sayin!