How come I always get the better end of the deal?
How come everything always goes right for me?
How come I have the best wife in the world, the best kids and grandkids, and the best church to be a part of?
How come no matter what I do, I always seem to be the one who gets blessed?
“Yeah . . . right” . . . you might be thinking . . .
“That’s certainly not me you’re talking about because nothing ever goes right for me . . .”
Hey there friends – Steve here,
Many of you know my story of how I was a seven year old orphan, in Juvenile Hall, all alone, with no family to take me in. True story . . . I was the only kid on the “good” side of Juvy, locked in my room at night and curled up on a cot wondering what in the world I had done wrong.
It certainly wasn’t pretty . . . or fun.
Well, from that point on and for many years I said this to myself every day: “Nothing ever goes right for me.”
Whenever something DID go wrong – no matter what it was – I would repeat to myself:
“Nothing ever goes right for me.”
When I got in trouble. When I messed up. When other kids got a cool toy. When someone else got a good grade. When my parents didn’t do what other kid’s parents did for them. I would repeat to myself: “Nothing ever goes right for me.”
Somewhere that all changed.
Some how – some way I began to change my “petty little inwardly self-directed personal victim song.” I actually can’t remember the exact time I stopped repeating that awful lie to myself every day. I do remember God gently dealing with me when I would say it. It was like He was asking me to start looking at things from a different perspective.
With His help I started to conscientiously offer thanks to God for every little good thing. I would notice the beauty and not the crud in life. With the gentle healing nudge of God I would see the things that I had so often missed before. I began to say things like:
“I am so blessed – Jesus has forgiven all my sin.”
“I am so thankful for this small gift – really thankful – even though others have way more than I do.”
“Thank you for my minimum wage job.”
“I truly appreciate this beat up old 1977 Datsun B210 that YOU God have given me.”
“I have the best life . . . thank you Jesus.”
Did things actually change for me? No.
Did I never have aches and pains and disappointments again? No.
God just showed me a better way of living. I began to take His Word to heart and apply it to my life . . . literally. I would repeat verses like: Philippians 4:4-7
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! . . . Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Seriously friends, I HAVE the best life! I love that God loves me and gives me freedom, and peace, and forgiveness, and joy, and purpose, and victory, and insight, and family, and surround sound, and friends, and challenges, and clarity, and His Word, and chocolate, and getting to spend this life with my best friend on earth – Teri – and together we are running together fulfilling His purposes in and for our lives.
You too can experience this real life – it’s found in Jesus! The One who took our sin upon Himself, paid our punishment, and declared us forgiven and clean! He is the only way you can have this authentic life. Jesus said:
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
John 10:10
Thanks for listening guys, sure do love you!
Steve 🙂
Philippians 4:8-9 (Paul, the apostle speaking)
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
It’s such a blessing to read and hear your words of encouragement. Thank you Steve
Thanks Steve. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and perspective and your love with us. We love you too!
Thank you
Thanks Steve. It is good to be reminded of how Jesus wants us to look at our life, and how He wants us to live our lives, concentrating on the good things, not the bad.
This is so good! Thank you for sharing your story and great wisdom it holds. Rich blessings to you and yours.
Thanks Steve!