Take Inventory

June 15

"Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Romans 8:24-25

ARTHUR ASHE: WHY NOT ME?

Tennis superstar Arthur Ashe died of AIDS, which he contracted from a blood transfusion during heart surgery. More than a great athlete, Ashe was a gentleman who inspired and encouraged many with his exemplary behavior on and off the court.

Ashe could have become embittered and self-pitying in the face of his disease, but he maintained a grateful attitude. He explained, "If I asked, 'Why me?' about my troubles, I would have to ask, 'Why me?' about my blessings. Why my winning Wimbledon? Why my marrying a beautiful, gifted woman and having a wonderful child?"

Ashe's attitude rebukes those of us who often grumble, "Why me? Why is God allowing this to happen?" Even if we're suffering acutely, we must not forget the mercies God pours into our lives--such things as food, shelter, and friends--blessings that many are deprived of.

And what about spiritual blessings? We can hold the very Word of God in our hands and read it. We have the knowledge of His saving grace, the comfort of His Spirit, and the joyful assurance of life everlasting with Jesus.

Think about God's blessings and ask, "Why me?" Then your grumbling will give way to praise. Vernon C Grounds

As believers in Christ, we have so much more than the trappings of life to represent the accrued blessings of our lives. We have so much more than the physical attractiveness, the mental acuity, the professional successes, the financial advantages that are ours to balance into the equation of our lives.
However, it is these temporal things that we are inclined to tally when we take inventory of who we are and what we possess. Our accounting system as believers often parallels that of the world. Like our unbelieving counterparts, we often neglect to factor into the equation of our lives, the true treasure that has been entrusted to us.

God’s “unspeakable gift to us,” (II Corinthians 9:15) the propitiatory life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from all sin and shame is often uncounted when the sum of our life is tallied. We factor in the trials we face, the challenges we must overcome, but we neglect to count the one thing that transcends time in our accounting.

That one thing, our acceptance of Christ (or our rejection of Him as Savior and Lord) carries over into Heaven’s Banking System. That one treasure, acquired while abiding on earth can be spent in Eternity. When we do the heavenly math we discover that we are not paupers!

We are spiritually wealthy beyond measure and that great treasure we possess should indeed bring us to the point of saying, “Why me? Why have I, frail, flawed steward that I am, been entrusted with this “pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:45, 46)?

The answer, because Jesus Christ loves us, should indeed turn our grumbling to praise and give us great faith to patiently wait for all the unseen things for which we hope.