It all depends on your perspective...

As the book of Genesis draws to a close, Jacob, who was a protagonist throughout half of the book, is also drawing near the end of his life. If you know his story, you'll remember that he spent the last seventeen years of his life in Egypt, where his son Joseph was the governor who guided the nation through a time of famine.

When Jacob first arrived in Egypt, he was introduced to Pharaoh, who asked him how old he was. "I have travelled this earth for 130 hard years, " replied Jacob. (Genesis 47: 9) That was his perspective on his life: that it had been hard.

Seventeen years later, when he is nearing the end of his life, we can see that his perspective on life and on God has evolved to a more accurate one. Now, as the end is near, he realises that God "has been my shepherd my whole life to this very day" and "has redeemed me from all harm." (Genesis 48: 15 - 16) When all is said and done, he takes an honest look at his life and recognises that he has indeed been blessed, materially as well as in other ways.

Yes, there had been hard things in Jacob's life, but that's true of everyone's life. How sad to live your whole life focusing on the few things that are hard, and realise only at the end how incredibly blessed you were. Jacob might have lived his life with greater peace and thankfulness if he had focused on God's goodness instead of focusing on the few things that were challenging or disappointing.

What about you and me? Are we living our lives with gratitude for the many blessings that have been showered upon us? Do we realise how fortunate we are, compared to so many other people? Or are we focusing our attention on a few things that are difficult or less-than-perfect? It's never too late to get a change of perspective.  You can change yours today, simply by choosing to live life with a spirit of thankfulness and starting each day by thanking God for the good things in your life.

Jacob lived almost 90% of his life feeling sorry for himself... and it was only during his last decade that he learned to see things from God's perspective, and to focus on all the good things that were his to enjoy. Let's not miss out on life by choosing to keep our attention on the few things that are hard.