![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/horizon-300x225.avif\")
Photo by Alexander Kluge<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n Isn’t it fascinating how the human mind works? When we begin focusing on certain things in our surroundings, we tend to find them, whether the color green, quiet background noises, or even the blessings we tend to take for granted.<\/p>\n When we decide to count our blessings, how many will we find? That’s like asking how many stars we can see.<\/p>\n Some blessings are not obvious because they are spiritual in nature or because they are disguised as problems. One of the most meaningful passages for Christians is this one: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose<\/em>” (Romans 8:28 NASB).<\/p>\n Have you ever had a horrible experience but later saw great good in it? Through the lens of Scripture, we can view life from God’s perspective and see things we would never otherwise know.<\/p>\n We learn that God is in control, that He loves us, that He is the source of all our blessings, that we are here for a noble purpose, and that He has much greater blessings to offer if we fulfill the purpose for which He made us and redeemed us. How could we ever make sense of life without these and other insights? How could we see?<\/p>\n The complainer doesn’t see. The discontented person doesn’t see. The embittered individual doesn’t see. The person who constantly grabs for more material things doesn’t see. The ingrate doesn’t see.<\/p>\n I want to see!!! Don’t you?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson Years ago, Reader’s Digest published an article by a woman who told how she and her family decided one day to make a game of looking for Volkswagen Bugs as they traveled. It was amazing how many they saw–back when VW Bugs were much more common. Isn’t it fascinating how the human…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[794,1420],"class_list":["post-70566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-criticism","tag-grumbling"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38378,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-natural-defense\/","url_meta":{"origin":70566,"position":0},"title":"A Natural Defense","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I found yet another interesting article in the paper today. Bed bugs have been making a comeback and scientists are looking for solutions that don't involve chemicals. A traditional defense against bed bugs in eastern Europe is to spread kidney bean leaves on the floor and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Bedbugs-and-Bean-Leaves.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Bedbugs-and-Bean-Leaves.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Bedbugs-and-Bean-Leaves.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":94469,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pauls-instructions\/","url_meta":{"origin":70566,"position":1},"title":"Paul’s Instructions","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong Paul includes many instructions on living as a disciple. Some we tend to emphasize more than others, but they are all inspired by God. I find the most difficult ones to follow are the ones that don't fit my personality or abilities. I know I am not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55563,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-church-will-never-be-the-same\/","url_meta":{"origin":70566,"position":2},"title":"The Church Will Never Be the Same","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Plunket via The Sower, Vol. 54, No. 3, May\/June 2009. Several years ago, Time Magazine carried an article, with the caption, \"The Church Will Never Be The Same,\" because, they say, \"The baby boomers are coming back to church.\" The article said among other things, \"These returnees are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/11\/hippies-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":50187,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-not-a-scholar-but\/","url_meta":{"origin":70566,"position":3},"title":"I’m Not a Scholar, But …","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer It's interesting to me how we sometimes couch our arguments with disclaimers that may end up casting doubt upon the very arguments we are trying to make. I tend to get a little suspicious of the argument when someone starts that way (including my own). Now that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30307,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-we-use-our-talents-when-we-are-limited-in-abilities\/","url_meta":{"origin":70566,"position":4},"title":"How can we use our talents when we are limited in abilities?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What are the talents in a Christian's life today? How can we multiply them to be good and faithful servants of our Lord Jesus? If we are limited to a good degree by our health, how can we be careful to not become like the servant who had one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50220,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/worshiping-like-the-psalms\/","url_meta":{"origin":70566,"position":5},"title":"Worshiping like the Psalms","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford The other day, I saw an article by a professor of Old Testament studies in which he compared the content of the book of Psalms to the content of Top 25 Christian contemporary music. He observed that many of the most prominent themes of the Psalms,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/sad-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}