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Sometimes we wake up and it seems that everything in our lives has gone wrong. We may be experiencing difficulties in our home, family, job, or health. It is in these instances that we should reflect on the Majesty of our Creator and the many blessings that He has bestowed on us.

In scripture, we find the following: “And if you would count the favors of God, never could you be able to count them” (Qur’an 16:18). Also, we find, “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.” Psalms 139:17-18).

We can think of blessings from the Almighty in two categories. The first are those things that He gives us and everyone else that we never think about. We tend to take these for granted: the air that we breathe, the abundance of food and water, friends and family whom we care about and who care about us. There are places in the world where the air is polluted and food and water are scarce.

The second group of blessings is those things that we pray for. It may be a better job, a loving and caring spouse, or improved health. When we are blessed and our prayers are answered, we should be thankful to our Creator.

Sometimes looking back helps us see His bountiful help, support, and His consistent blessings. We may have been ill, but in time He restored our health. We may have experienced difficulty in some other aspect of our lives and He guided us through those hard times. 

We can think of our early childhood when we were learning how to walk. We never gave up.  We fell down but we got up and tried again. No matter how many bumps and bruises, we got up and kept trying. Eventually, The Almighty blessed us with success. Not only did we walk, we started to run, dance, and ride a bicycle.

Our Creator never put a burden on us greater than we have the strength to bear. (Qur’an 2:286). When we face challenges we should know, with certainty, that we have the inner strength to handle them. This gives us hope and hope is the antithesis of despair.

QADIR ABDUS-SABUR, PH.D. is an Imam at the Islamic Center of Prince Edward. His email address is qas1944@gmail.com.