Stop Chasing More And Notice What You Have

You can work hard, feel stuck, and still miss the best things in your life because you’re looking past them. Today I share the “Acres of Diamonds” story, first told by Russell Conwell, about a farmer who sells his land to search for diamond mines across Africa, only to find despair on the road he thought would lead to wealth.
Back on the farm he left behind, the new owner notices a shiny stone in the creek, sets it on the mantel, and learns it’s a diamond. That single act of paying attention opens the door to a life-changing discovery: the “treasure” was there all along. It’s a simple story with a hard edge, because it exposes how comparison, restlessness, and the belief that “better is over there” can blind us to the value of what we already have: people who love us, a home, friendships, daily provision, and small moments of peace.

Transcript

The Farmer Who Chased Diamonds

The Diamond On The Mantel

Scripture And Finding Your Blessings

Final Encouragement And Invitation

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Good morning and welcome to Starting Right. I am Danny Mack, and I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back and relax for the next five minutes as I help you start your day by starting right. There's a story currently making the rounds again that was originally told by Russell Conwell back about 1869. He was traveling in Africa and he met a guide who told him this story. It seems there was a farmer who had worked his land very hard, he'd spent many years and barely scratched out a living. One day he was working and some fellows walked by who he knew from the past had been farmers. They told him how they had found great diamond mines and how they had become extremely wealthy because Africa was just flowing with diamonds. The first farmer decided he would sell his farm and go look for diamond mines as well. He wanted to find diamonds. So he found a buyer, sold his land, and went out and began to search throughout Africa trying to find diamonds. For many years he searched without finding anything. Finally he came to the point where he was out of money, he was discouraged, he was beaten down, he was in complete despair, and he threw himself off a bridge into a river. Meanwhile, back at his farm that he sold, the new owner had begun to work the land as well. During the time that he had it, he had developed the farm, and it was doing okay, but not great. One day he was crossing a small bridge that went across a brook that was running through the farm, and he looked down and he saw something shiny in the water. He went down, picked it up, and thought, that's kind of nice, and took it back to his house and set it on the mantelpiece there in his home. A couple weeks later he had a visitor who was sitting down and talking with them, and the visitor looked up and saw this piece sitting on the mantle and went over and looked at it. He brushed it carefully, he looked at it again. He brushed it again, and he turned to the man and said, Do you know what you've got here? The farmer said, Well, I it's it's something I just found it there. They're they're all over the place out there. It's it's just a piece of old rock. The man said, No, this is a diamond. This is one of the largest diamonds I have ever seen. They rushed out to the creek bed, and there were dozens and dozens and dozens of diamonds. This was one of the richest finds of diamonds in all of Africa. The irony here is that the first man sold his farm to go and look for diamonds. He had the diamonds there all the time, and he didn't even know it. Over the years, Robert Conwell told the story many times, and he entitled it Acres of Diamonds. He used it to help people understand that where they were right now, there are so many good things around them that they don't even see, and they miss out on simply because they're too busy looking at what is on the other side of the fence. What somebody else has got, what somebody else is doing, what's better over here or better over there. And they're missing what they have. In Psalm 66 and verse five, it says, Come and see what the Lord has done, his awesome deeds for mankind. God has poured out his blessings on you. He has given to you people in your life who love you, he's given you a family, he's given you homes, he's given you friends. Even in the middle of our struggle now with the coronavirus and the issues that we are dealing with there, we are still surrounded by the goodness of God. It's so easy to lose sight on the good things that we miss out on the diamonds that we have around us. So this morning, I want to encourage you, look for the diamonds. Look for the diamonds that there are in your home and in your life and in the people around you. Look for those diamonds. Don't lose them. Don't lose sight of them. Thank you for listening today. And I invite you to join me Monday to Friday right here on Starting Right Standing Max.