Our Helping Hands Ministry distributes canned goods and
other non-perishable items every Wednesday at our church. Recently after one of the giveaways, when
the crowd died down, my daughter began to take inventory of the items we had on
hand… baked beans, corn, tomato sauce, pasta, spam, sardines, hash, tuna, and
the list goes on and on and on.
Anyway, I saw her list and realizing how extensive it was, I
said to her, “I think it is much better to know what we need, then to see what
we have,” arguing my point really good (not only as her mom, but as her first
lady) or so I thought. That is until
someone else jumped in the conversation and said, “No… not to take Brandi’s side, but I believe it’s
easier to have a record of what you have.
That way you can have an inventory and then you could look at your list
and see what you need.” And he continued
with, “So you could say, I have this many cans of this. We want to have this many of them, or we have
this many boxes of these, we need to have this many…” and blah, blah, blah... J
“Yeah, yeah, yeah” I said.
Sounded like too much work to me.
And then I went on, “I’d rather look at what is on the shelves, and
write down what we have need of.” And
felt inclined to go continue, but instead followed the prompting of the Holy
Spirit, Who told me (as He often does), “leave your daughter alone” and I
walked away.
Okay, so what’s the point?
We can surely go back and forth with this, and just like the other
member said, “It’s just a matter of perspective.”
Right, it’s all a matter of perspective. And as I walked away from that conversation and
even until the next morning, God spoke. And what He said was this, “Taking
inventory of what you have is a way of expressing thanks.” You have a written record of what you have
when you look at what you have and write it down. What you are actually doing in writing it
down, is giving witness to it. Giving
witness to what you have. And though you
don’t realize it you are making a mental note of how you have provision. Namely, how GOD has provided for you.
Whereas, taking note of what you don’t have, clearly defines
your focus and causes you to overlook what you do have.
Yes, it is a matter of perspective. While one way may not necessarily be the best
way over the other as you actually go to replenish your inventory for a church
give-away; one way is definitely the best way to look at the inventory in your
life. First natural, then
spiritual. Focusing on not what you
don’t have, but what you DO have, and that is certainly the right perspective
and more than enough reason to give thanks.
Yep, it is a matter of perspective. And I’m grateful for what I have. What
say you?
A servant of the Lord,
Sis. E
