How to Block A Blessing

For he never thought of doing a kindness,
   but hounded to death the poor
   and the needy and the brokenhearted.
He loved to pronounce a curse—
   may it come back on him.
He found no pleasure in blessing—
   may it be far from him.
He wore cursing as his garment;
   it entered into his body like water, into his bones like oil. -- Psalm 109:16-18

 Do you block your blessings?
We live in a world where the news we receive is driven by the negative.  We are groomed from elementary school onward to be cynical and to cast suspicious, critical eyes on everything.  "If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't."  "You can't believe anything you read."  "Identify the problem."  "Look for the scam."  "Watch out for strangers." "Don't take any wooden nickels."  Then, when cynicism gets worn we lapse into outright complaining about how bad we have it.  The number of teenagers who will put "FML" on their Facebook just today would probably reduce the national debt by half if each one were given a dime.  I hear the words every day: "I hate ____________."  Every disheartening use of our tongue or pen to spark suspicion, doubt, fear, depression, or unhappiness is a curse.  Every celebration of something bad that happens to someone else, regardless of whether they deserved it or not, is a curse.  As the Psalm reads: "We wear cursing as a garment" when we look for and spread negative news.  In blaring out our curses they enter our own bodies, soaking in clear to the bone, and blocking what blessings God is lavishing upon each of us everyday.  

No matter how bad your life situation may have become there are still blessings to be found.  We may have to mine them and work to extract them a little, but they are there.  "I will never leave you or forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5, Joshua 1:5)   Many people the world over have a ton more problems and trials than the majority of Americans but even in their situations there are small blessings - an ever-present faith, if absolutely nothing else.  If you can't find the blessings you have perhaps it is because you have been uttering curses about everything around you so long that they've seeped into your bones and you can't see your blessings for all the poison on which you've been focused?  Repent from the negativity in the world.  Just avoiding the thinking about and refusing to talk about how much you hate or can't stand cuts the legs out from under a cursing that travels far too easily - through you and through others.  Turn from it and dwell on the most positive things you can find.  If you can't find anything then read through the first half of each Gospel.  All that is told in those passages of scripture is a blessing to you -- even this many years later!