WHAT DO YOU SEE?

The citizens of a small community were overwhelmed with discouragement. The drought had destroyed the crops of the farmers, and they were facing bankruptcy. The merchants were unable to purchase inventory for their stores because their customers could not pay their bills. And things went downhill from there.

Everyone was heartbroken and depressed except one elderly man of God. He invited the leaders of the community to his home for a meeting to see if he could encourage them to continue a little longer.

His friends came to his home and sat around his kitchen table. He asked them to turn from facing him while he hung a large piece of white paper on a wall. Then, he asked them to turn and look at it. As they did, he placed a black dot in the center and asked, “Gentlemen, what do you see?”

In unison, they said, “A black dot.” Not one of them mentioned the white paper that surrounded the one small black dot.

“Gentlemen,” he asked, “are there some blessings in your life that we can place around the black dot that might make it not so obvious?” One by one, they thought of the good things that they had been overlooking in their time of loss and grief.

God’s goodness sometimes disappears from our horizon. When days are difficult and nights are long, it is easy to see the dot and not the One who can remove it.

 Prayer:  Help us, Heavenly Father, to be aware of all that we have because of Your goodness and grace. Give us faith to endure the difficulties of life through Your strength. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture For Today: Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Matthew 19:26