Trying Not To Sing The Blues

Trying Not To Sing The Blues (But I am Humming Them!)

Dr. Vince Hefner, Pastor

First Baptist Church, Cherryville

Have you ever had one of those times in your life when everything seemed to be against you? I have found that these periods of bad times begins when things look bright and shiny. Recently, I had borrowed a stump grinder to grind up some stumps in my yard. I thought I had done a good job in grinding down one particular stump so I could run my lawn tractor over it when I cut my grass. Well, I was cutting my grass and when I ran over the ground-up stump, it ground up my lawn tractor. I had to purchase an entire lawn deck that is going to cost as much as an inexpensive lawn tractor.

While I am waiting on my lawn tractor to be repaired, I decided to use my push mower. I had let a friend borrow it last cutting season, and when I picked it up, I was told it was, “broke.” I took my push mower to another lawn care repair center, in hopes that it will be repaired soon.

Since I don’t have any lawn mowers that work, I figured I would try again to grind down that stump in my yard. Guess what? The stump grinder was broke! How do you break a stump grinder? Fortunately, the belt had just come off the pulleys, and I was able to fix it myself, and trust me, that stump is nowhere to be found!

During this same period I had an eye appointment for some laser surgery to remove some film that had developed over my new lens. I was told months ago that this would not cost me anything since it was a continuation of the first surgery. When I went for the procedure I was told I needed to pay over $500.00 that day. I tried to explain that I was told the procedure was covered by the first surgery, but they disagreed, so I paid what they told me.

This past Sunday, I was on my way to Church when a police officer passed me in the emergency lane, as though he was headed to the Apocalypse. When he passed me, an object flew up and put a major dent on my hood. When I contacted the insurance company they sympathized with my situation and then told me I needed to pay $250.00 for my deductible. That didn’t seem fair to me, so I contacted the police and told them my story. They told me they would look into it, but I have a feeling how this is going to work out.

Yes, I have been considering learning to sing the, “Blues.” In the midst of my despair, I came across a passage of Scripture that helped change my perspective from singing the blues to singing the praises of God. Proverbs 22:9 says, “He who has a generous eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.” When I thought about this verse, my thoughts went to the phrase, “a generous eye.” Simply put, this means the way you look at life. If you look at life from a “me” perspective, you will always see the glass half empty, and all news you receive will seem to be bad, therefore you will eventually sing the blues. If you look at life from how God blesses you and protects you, then you will see that your life is never as bad as you thought, and others have even greater needs than yourself.

The idea of living life for yourself is a terrible waste of time and space. If you want to have a meaningful life, praise God for all the ways in which He has blessed you, and how He has protected you from problems that you never knew were around. The “Generous Eye” is a result of seeing the mercy of God in your life, and sharing that mercy with those around you. It is extremely hard to feel sorry for yourself when you see how wonderful Christ is to you!

Remember, Don’t give in to sin. Think about it!