Desert or Dessert?

(Proverbs 17:1 KJV)  Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.

Most of us face a question every day.  “Hi.  How are you?”  I have programed myself to never answer, “Fine.”  I use the question as a hot button to get my mind in gear.  Really, how am I?  My standard answer now is “marvelous.”  Sometimes I might say “glorious.”  The strange thing is, I mean it.  How can this be?

My life, like yours if full of fences, obstacles and fetters.  We all face limitations on our dreams and fantasies.  Often we don’t have a choice.  I remember when I started teaching.  I replaced a fully trained and credentialed teacher who had several years of experience.  The kids ran her off in two weeks.  They thought they could do the same with me, but there was a difference.  She was a second salary.  I was a sole supporter with a wife, kids and a mortgage.  When we don’t have a choice we can at least gain some consolation from comparing our situation to those who are suffering more.

When I feel like life is giving me a “dry” (2720) “morsel” (6595), I take a moment to compare my life to what it must be like to live in some third world country or to be unemployed in this one.  Somewhere in the process I am reminded that I am a child of God with an eternity ahead of me.  It is truly “better” (2896a).

So?  Lift up your eyes.  Develop a long range view.  Rejoice in the blessings.