Green Pastures

It never fails that what you can't have you want and what you don't have you feel you need. This became real evident to me as I recently completed a 40-day fast. It seemed as though I NEEDED every bit of food and coffee, I was sacrificing for a greater cause. Yet now that the fast is over and I can pretty much eat and drink whatever I want, I am not even pressed. (I can not tell you the number I times I woke up during the fast and could literally smell the coffee I was abstaining from.) So it was not that I NEEDED to have these things, I just needed to appreciate what I could have...the same way we should be grateful for the things we have instead of complaining about what we don't. How much do you think your relationships would grow if you invested more time appreciating and loving the person you're with instead of comparing them (even in your mind) to the person you are not with? How much more do you think you would enjoy your job if you looked for more things you liked about it than things you do not? 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us, "...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (NIV). Stop complaining and start giving thanks. Stop comparing and start appreciating. The grass is not always greener on the other side, it's just greenest where it is watered. Water the grass where you are with love, appreciation and gratefulness...then you realize that you don't "NEED" that thing (whatever it may be) as bad as you thought.