Give Thanks in all Circumstances

Be Thankful:

For Life.
Each year, there are estimated to be 42 million induced abortions. Children who will never get a chance.

For Water.
783 million people live without safe water. 11% of the world’s population.
African families survive on an average of 5 gallons of water each day IF lucky, while Americans use an average of 176 gallons each day. 

For Food.
in 2010, 925 million people made the ‘hungry people of the world’ chart.
925 million people go hungry each day while 25% of Americans consume fast-food daily.
Americans spend on average nearly 100$ billion dollars on fast-food each year.

For Education.
In the world today there are approximately 1 billion non-literate adults. 26% of the world’s population.

the average American takes their ability to read for granted as they spend
about 9 years worth of time watching TV in a lifetime, and only 20, 748 minutes reading

(that’s 346 hrs...that’s 15 days... in a lifetime!!!)

For Electricity.

79% of people in 3^rd world countries have NO access to electricity.

That’s about 1.5 billion people.

¼ of the world’s population.

For Jobs and Financial Income.
The average American household will make $2,316,300 in a lifetime.
In Uganda, the average household will make $8000 in a lifetime.

That is a difference of 2 MILLION, 308 THOUSAND, and 300 dollars...

For Peace and Safety.
On average, 1 in 5 countries is affected by war or civil conflict.

 

Not hitting close enough to home?! That’s okay (catch the sarcasm here...), the average person can shrug this information off within a few hours because they do not feel it applies to their culture or life conditions as they have been born and raised with these things; therefore, it does not make them feel thankful or blessed for their circumstances. Alright, so let’s get more personal...


Be thankful:

For God’s Grace.
They say about 33% of the world’s population is Christian.
However let’s take into account that MANY take the title but FEW truly live it and have a transforming relationship with Christ.
This leaves about 66% (probably more) of the world that does. Not. Know. God.
*by GRACE you are saved*
be thankful that God revealed his light to you and that you do not need to walk in darkness.
be thankful that you have been offered an eternity in heaven with Jesus Christ.

For Health.
around 28% of children in developing countries are underweight or stunted.

In the world about 40 million people have HIV/AIDS.
There are 350-500 million cases of malaria each year.
Every year 1.8 million children die from diarrhoea.

In 2002, there were about 1500 deaths per day in the USA due to cancer.

For Shelter.

640 million children live without shelter.

In 2005, 1 in 3 urban dwellers (about 1 billion people) were living in slum conditions.

For Wealth.
*even when you don’t consider yourself wealthy*
1 in 9 children live in poverty in Canada.
In 2005 there were about 150 000 homeless individuals in Canada.

The average Canadian household has 2 vehicles.

I guess this may depend on what you consider to be ‘wealthy’, if wealth to you is living each day with enough – then I think you should consider yourself wealthy. If you are going to compare your financial stability to the rich people around you, of course you are going to feel poor. Just remember those in 3^rd world countries are comparing their financial stability to people like you – the average citizen – and they feel beyond poor. What you  spend on fast food each week could change some lives. Just something to think about. If you were poor, you wouldn’t be spending money on fast-food, gas, movies, clothes, extra foods and drinks, pleasures etc. If you have enough – you are wealthy.

  

Anyways. Just food for thought. This isn’t meant to be a guilt trip, or to make you feel bad for the life you have. It’s also not to meant to make you feel like your struggles and challenges don’t count. BUT it is meant to make you realize and remember to be thankful. You are blessed. You should always be able to find something to be thankful for. Family, Friends, Health, Security, or whatever it may be. God will always provide for you what you need.