The influential 19th century preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, "Too often too many of us write our blessings in sand and our infirmities in marble." When reflecting on our past or focusing on our present we tend to highlight what is wrong and not what is right. So many, especially in their older ages, complain their way all the way to the grave highlighting one illness and one failure after another.

Though Job is in immense pain and suffering, he does something wise in Job 29. Though it might appear at first glance to be boasting, what he is doing is reminding himself of how God has blessed him previously. He starts in Job 29:2-3, "Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me; When His lamp shone upon my head, And when by His light I walked through darkness;". He then goes from the general to the specific as we read in 29:5, "When my children were around me;". He remembers how he was blessed and respected in 29:7-11, "When I went out to the gate by the city, When I took my seat in the open square, The young men saw me and hid, And the aged arose and stood; The princes refrained from talking, And put their hand on their mouth; The voice of nobles was hushed, And their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth. When the ear heard, then it blessed me, And when the eye saw, then it approved me;". Job was in a place of distinction as a judge in the city. He goes on to remember how in that position he was used by God to bless others including widows and the poor. Job takes a moment while in his misery to reflect back on how much God has blessed him. How often in the Torah, as the Israelites were complaining, did God have to remind them of all that He had already done to bless their lives. He knows how short-lived our memories are concerning God's blessings.

So many of us walk around depressed, disgruntled and generally unhappy. When we find ourselves thinking like this it is important to stop and remember what He has already done to bless our lives in the past and the present. How many seemingly insurmountable problems in the past did God see us through. God has not, nor will He ever change. God does not leave us during our trials, and if we learn to seek Him in our misery, He will see us through our present trials also. The answer may not be the one we desire or seek, but it is the one that God knows is best. Rather than being a people who choose to dwell on our problems and complaints, may we be the most joyous people on the planet, despite our circumstances, as we make a conscious choice to reflect on all that God has done for us throughout our lives.