Revive Your Heart: Putting Life in Perspective

duʿā’
for a child. He’s been making 
duʿā’
his whole life but he says I was never
depressed when I asked you. I have never been 
shaqī
when I asked you. When
you check the lexicons of the Arabic language for the word 
shaqī
, or 
shiqāwah
and 
shaqāwah
—both are found in the Arabic language—and 
shiqwah
also, they
say it’s 
ḍidd al-saʿāda
—the opposite of happiness. It has the meanings of grief,

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sadness, it has the meanings of depression. It’s also used for a sadness or a bad
mood that is short or long term—
yumadd wa-yuqṣar
, they say in Arabic. It could
be something that is extended like some of you know people in your family that
are just always in a bad mood—that’s long term 
shaqī
. Then there are some
people that just get in a bad mood sometimes, either way this term applies.
This statement that he made is actually incredibly powerful in teaching us
something about our attitude when we make 
duʿā’
to Allah. Who are we asking
anyway? We’re asking our 
Rabb
, and usually we ask when we feel the need for
something we don’t have. That’s probably true for most people, right? You’re at
the verge of something like—
maʿādh
Allāh
—one of our children is going to see
the doctor; we make 
duʿā’
for the health of our child. You’re going into a job
interview, you turn and you make 
duʿā’
to Allah—‘
Yā Allāh
, this interview; I
really need this job’. You’re about to sign papers for a house, ‘
Yā Allāh
, put
barakah
in this house. 
Yā Allāh
, this is a pretty big deal, this is a serious
investment I’m getting into’. So when you make 
duʿā’
; you make 
duʿā’
because
you get to a point in life where you seriously need something and you realize it.
But let’s take a step back, every single day you and I wake up and we did not
have to have a respirator on for our lungs to keep working all night. Every single
night when we went to sleep, our heart was still beating. Every single day when
we got out of bed, we opened our eyes and we could still see; our ears could still
hear, and 
wa-Llāhi
, they’re not on autopilot. They’re not running on energizer
batteries. This is Allah providing you and me with another breath, another
heartbeat, another day to move our limbs. Yet the only time we turn to Allah is
when we need something; when we feel we’re missing something. But as a
matter of fact, Allah is constantly providing you and me without us even asking.
We don’t have to make 
duʿā’
to Allah to be able to breathe, can you imagine
how that would be? We don’t have to make 
duʿā’
to Allah to be able to hear; to
be able to see; to be able to speak. Imagine every time I have to speak, make
duʿā’
to Allah then He gives my tongue the ability, then I can say something.
Subḥān Allāh
, there are a lot of things Allah gives us that we absolutely need
—we 
absolutely
need—we cannot survive without them and yet He provides,
and He provides, and He provides. So what I am trying to get at first is, before
you and I think about what Allah did not give me—How come He didn’t give
me this? How come He didn’t answer this 
duʿā’
or that 
duʿā’
and that 
duʿā’
?
Allah says: 
kulla yawmin huwa fī sha’n
(