Griffin Speaks

DON'T MISS YOUR BLESSINGS

When I look back at my life in retrospect I tremble when I think of how many blessings I would have missed if I had failed to ask for what I wanted.

I can recall the late Rev. Luther Brown at St.  “John A.M.E. Zion Church in Rocky Mount, North Carolina quoting Matthew 7:11, “ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

I learned at a very early age to ask for what I wanted. A few days ago as I was walking down the street I asked the Lord to overwhelm me with joy. I went to my post office box that same day and found two unexpected checks. 

A minister told the following story, which best describes what I am talking about: “A young lady was getting ready to graduate from college. For several months she had been hoping for a certain sports car in a dealer’s showroom. She knew that her father could easily afford the car, and had hinted to him that the car was all she wanted. As graduation day approached, the young lady began to look for signs that her father had purchased the car. She was afraid to come straight out and ask him to purchase it. So finally, on the morning of her graduation, her father called her into his office. He told her how proud he was to have such a wonderful daughter, and told her how much he loved her. He handed his daughter a beautifully wrapped gift box. 

The young lady was curious and somewhat disappointed, she opened the box and found a bible inside, with her name printed on the cover. The young lady became very angry! She yelled, “With all your money, you give me a Bible?” Then she ran out of the house. 

Many years passed and the young lady never went back to see her dad. She was so bitter that she did not want to see or hear from him. She became a very successful physician. She had a beautiful home and wonderful family. One day she realized that her father was getting old and she thought that perhaps she should reconcile with him. She had not seen him since that graduation day. Before she decided to make arrangements to visit her elderly father, she received a telegram informing her of her father’s death and that she should hurry home to take care of the matters surrounding the possessions her father had left her. The father had left her everything. When she arrived at her father’s mansion, she was filled with grief and regret. As she went through her father’s important papers, she found the Bible that her father had given her. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Then she opened the Bible to a bookmark that her father had left and her father had carefully underlined a verse, Matthew 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” 

As she read those words, a car key fell from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer’s name, the same dealer who had the sports car she had desired. On the tag was her graduation date, and the words PAID IN FULL! The daughter should have asked her father to purchase the car. She should have also asked her father if he had purchased the car. If she had done that then this mess would have been avoided. 

DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT! 

In the words of my dad, “If you don’t have money at least have class!”

Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by visiting his web page at www.greggriffin.com