Each morning and evening for just over a month last year I got in my car and played the worship song  at full volume “I’m so blessed” for the 4 minute car journey to and from work (I’ve got arthritis and it’s up a steep hill). I ritually did it every day and made a point of not playing the song at any other time. 

The lyrics rang out in the car 

Trouble knocking at my door today
I ain’t gonna let it in
And worry wanna steal my joy away
But I ain’t gonna let it win

‘Cause on my best day, I’m a child of God
On my worst day, I’m a child of God
Oh, every day is a good day
And You’re the reason why

I’m so blessed, I’m so blessed
Got this heartbeat in my chest
No, it doesn’t matter about the rest
If I got You, Lord, I’m so blessed

I’m so blessed, hallelujah, I’m blessed

Trouble wasn’t just knocking at my door, it had moved in, set up shop and was closing my world down. 

I sang through tears, I sang through disbelief, confusion and profound disappointment, I listened when the pain was too great to open my mouth. 

I cried – I’m so blessed…..

You see sadly this wasn’t my first encounter with major trauma and I knew from previous experience that the one thing I needed to do was lift my eyes higher than my present situation. 

When I first encountered life changing events in my 20s, a wise older Christian told me to meditate on scripture. So I printed out parts of the book of Job 38

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow

    or seen the storehouses of the hail,

23 

which I reserve for times of trouble,

    for days of war and battle?

24 

What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,

    or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

I stuck them on my bedroom walls, as trouble had moved in very unexpectedly and left me trapped in those four bedroom walls. Gods words to Job spoke to my heart as I wrestled with my new realisation that life was not all roses and butterflies! 

Each day in the highs and the lows, I still read scripture, not because that’s what good Christians do, but because I need it to remind me that there is more to life than what’s infront of me. Listening to “I am blessed” for 4 minutes each day in a difficult period helped me change how I understood, felt about and got through each day.

So whatever you are going through today, profound joy or deep heart wrenching disappointment or somewhere in between….consider that 4 minutes could change your day…..