Between 11:30 and 1:00 am New Year's Eve / New Year's Day, thieves broke two windows of my car, and stole my wife's handbag, contents and all. This was their Happy New Year to me - and who knows how many others.Scripture commands:
"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess 5:18)
So let me count all the blessings that flow out of this burglary and give thanks to God, not for the burglary but in the burglary.
Are you ready, for it's a mighty long list:
Blessing #1: I was the burgled, not the burglar
What a blessing that I, by the grace of God was not the one burgling cars on New Year's Eve. I could have been! I could have been brought up in a home where I was abused and mistreated so much that to rid myself of the pain I turned to drugs, and wanting to forget the past year I smashed a car window to get money for a soothing fix.
Blessing #2: This is the first time my car's windows have been broken
Thank you Lord that I live in such a safe country. We pampered westerners need to spend a few weeks in a country where being burgled is no big deal, because it is so common there.
Blessing #3: The burglar attacked the car when no-one was in it
I read of accounts where brazen thieves stop cars, mug the driver, then force them at gunpoint to a cash machine, then steal his car - if he is lucky he gets away with a light beating. My car was empty of human beings.
Blessing #4: The burglar took my possessions, not my life
The burglar took possessions which are here today and gone tomorrow. Who cares? Possessions are either replaceable or gone forever. They did not take my life.
Blessing #5: The burglar missed far more valuable items!
Being in such a hurry, the burglar missed three far more valuable items that were in the same car!
Blessings #6: The burglar did not steal life-giving medicine.
The thief could have stolen a defibrillator or life-essential pills. But he didn't - everything he stole was non-urgent.
Blessings #7: The burglar took my material possessions but he could not take my spiritual treasures.
Material blessings come and go. They last - at most - for the short duration of this life. We can't take them with us. Moth, thieves and rust all degrade them. But treasures in heaven are kept safe by God, and those treasures are eternal. No thief can take away peace with God or the hope of heaven.
Blessing #8: The police did not ask me to bribe them
When we rang the police they did not ask us for a bribe before they gave me a Crime Reference Number. There are plenty of places in the world where I would have had to "pay" for a CRN!
Blessing #9: Everything was insured
The windows they smashed and the handbag they stole are all insured. So apart from the nuisance value, everything will be back in shape soon.
Blessing #10: Although they stole my house key, our house has an additional security door before the main door
So when we got home we shut the outer door, which they have no key to! And we'll soon change the inner lock.
Blessing #11: In the wider family we even have a second car which we can use to get around, plus feet that still work!
We all rely on wheels too much, it's good to go without a car for a while, though we have a second car in the wider family should we need it.
Blessing #12: We were able to cancel the cards in an instant
We will not have to claim money back, because we were able to cancel all bank cards in a moment. The wonders of technology.
Blessings #13: We're a little more careful about security
We will all be more careful about all security matters in the future! A litle incy wincy scare does us all good.
Blessing #14: The incident has not troubled us one little bit: we thank God for faith
I realised this blessing when sharing the incident with an unbeliever who thought it was the most terrible way to start a new year and nigh on the end of the world! I realised that I did not see the theft that way at all and that God had given me the faith to trust him and not be fearful over such insignificant matters....
Blessing #15: The faith to believe that there are far more important things than material stuff
... and I realised how differently I view material possessions, since I own the Pearl of Greatest Price. In the eyes of the world material stuff is precious, houses and cars are everything. But we who believe know that it will all be burned up in The Fire. In the world to come, we cannot take anything with us. And that perspective shapes our attitude - or it should shape our attitude - to money, house, car, possessions, gadgets, everything!
So there you go!
Fifteen reasons to rejoice!
Fifteen reasons to count our blessings!
I am sure, given the time, I could find 15 more!
When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, ev'ry doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.
When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.
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