What do you see?

When you survey your life, your job, your home, your marriage, your family, what do you see? Are you one of those folks who thinks, “If I were just married,” or “If if I could just land a different job,” – “then I would be happy.”

I heard a story a few weeks ago that is, I have found, both challenging and inspiring.

The story was shared by Russel H. Conwell, the founder of Temple University.

There once was a farmer named Ali Hafib. Ali lived on a farm and he owned a plough and an ox and lived in a very modest hut. He was not a rich man but he was content. I suppose the fact that he was content made him wealthier than most people today.

One day a traveller stopped by and told Ali about how many people were finding great riches in India.

We all know how stories can get exaggerated, and the traveller told of people finding diamonds there and thus making a fortune. After hearing the story, Ali became more and more discontented with his life. In the days that followed, his agitation and discontentment grew to the point where he decided he must pursue the wealth that the traveller had told him about. He put his farm up for sale and sold it. He took the money and with some he arranged for a place for his wife and children to stay, and then put the rest of the money in a sack. He kissed his wife and children goodbye and told them that when he returned they would be set and that they would want for nothing. He set out as a soldier of fortune, bent on finding diamonds.

After searching and searching, his money gone and his health failing, dejected and in despair, he wrote a farewell note, “No diamonds anywhere” and cast himself into a raging river.

Meanwhile, back home, the man who had bought his farm, lived in the same humble hut, ate the same food as Ali, took the same ox and the same plough and began to work the farm. As he ploughed, he became increasingly irritated by these pesky black rocks. He couldn’t plough more than 50 feet without hitting one. In fact, he kept throwing them to the side, and even made piles of them along the side of his fields.

One day, he hit a larger one and when he picked it up he saw that it reflected the light in a beautiful way. He liked the rainbow colours he saw so he took it home and placed it on the mantle as a decoration.

Soon thereafter the local priest came by to welcome him to the community and while they were talking the priest stopped midsentence. His eyes got big like saucers and he said, “Where did you get that rock?” The farmer said, “I picked it up in the field – these rocks are everywhere. I had to start stacking them in piles.” The priest said, “Before I became a priest, I was a jeweller, and I am certain that this rock is a diamond in the rough.” Sure enough, it turns out that the rock was indeed a diamond, and in the late 1800s it was appraised at $25,000.

The farm that the discontented Ali Hafib sold to pursue his fortune, became the De Beers diamond fields. He had been living on acres of diamonds.

What about you today?

Are you one of those people who believe that the grass is greener somewhere else?

Are you searching for greener pastures?

Are you one of those people who would go somewhere else in search of diamonds?

One man said, “If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence… it is probably astro-turf.”

Another man said, “The grass is greener where you water it.”

Each one of us has been given opportunities that are right under our noses and in our own back yards. We are living on acres of diamonds if only we could see through the eye of faith and develop and invest in what we have now and trust God to help us be good stewards of what we have been given.

Opportunity doesn’t just come along, it is right in front of you. If you are diligent and faithful with what you are given, more will be given to you.

Paul writes in Philippians 4:12: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed, or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

When you look at your life, what do you see? When you look at our city, what do you see?

Since moving here from the Kelowna in 2009, I have heard a lot of negative comments about Prince George and have known many who moved away to find something “better.”

I love this city, and I love the people here. When I look at Prince George I see a field of diamonds.

What do you see?