Welcome to the month of May. It has been four months since the beginning of this year in our Lord. However, it seems as though yesterday we were making our New Years’ Resolution. As amazing as that might be, the time has continued to move according to the space of seconds, minutes, hours and days since God placed the universe in motion. Notwithstanding there is an obvious shift in traditional seasons. Take for instance the popular saying  “March winds and April showers bring May flowers and June bugs.” While this saying was first penned in the UK back in 1886, it was determined by our Lord in Genesis 8:22, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”  Let us be thankful for the seasons and the life giving substance that they bring. No one is denied the beauty of God’s creation, yet only those who are willing to let the rays of God’s love, framed by the beauty of his architecture, gain the most from them.

Imagine being a sheep among many with enough grass to feed a multitude and more water than you can consume in a lifetime. Then feel the comfort of an inner peace that, without understanding, gives you the strength to overcome even the largest obstacles. That is what David came to know which caused him to pen the 23^rd division of the Psalms. Feel the wind and be thankful, for it is evidence that God has not ceased to filter the air for our need and comfort. When the rain falls, look up and thank God for the replenishing of a life source that not only cleanses but without which life would not be sustainable. Breathe deeply the fragrance of flowers and vegetation that not only beautify our environment but also feed our needs both nutritionally and medicinally. And yes, even the bugs have an important role in our eco-system. The variety of which is in the thousands but only about 10% of them are destructive and they are the food supply of the others.

Let us continue to rejoice in all that God has blessed us with. Stop, drop, and pray. Not so much for what you want, but for that which you have already been given. Spend time being thankful and you will find less time being sorrowful. Jesus reminds us that all of our needs were created before we arrived. “Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” (Matthew 6:8)

While his brothers laughed and ridiculed him for claiming a pony that he had not gotten, he continued to ask his father daily. Intending to make more fun of the little boy, his brothers filled his room with manure. They waited eagerly in hiding to witness his dismay upon his arrival. To their surprise they heard the boy singing in the room. Looking surprised, they threw open the door to the boy’s room and found him headfirst digging in the manure. They asked him, “what are you doing? Don’t you see and smell all this manure?”  The little boy looked up to Heaven and replied, “Thank you Lord. I know with all this manure there has to be a pony somewhere.” If you need it and don’t have it, get ready to thank God, it’s on the way.

As said the Psalmist, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.” (37:25,26) If we count every hope and breadth as a blessing, we will have no time to sorrow.

Njm