by David Brenneman
I've began something that I hope I don't ever forget to keep doing. When life gets difficult...to continue the parlance of words we have been using in recent days...I want persist in throwing thanks to God when life isn't going well.
People are always going to be people. Some will be good to be around, some will not. Some will not let up in being who they are and you may never figure them out. Some will be critical of you and go away. Some will and won't go away. Some will be difficult, others will be a joy to be around.
Sounds very very much like those whom we are introduced to in the 4 Gospels who interacted with Jesus. We're warned ahead of time that the world's going to have problems with us being followers of Jesus. They aren't going to like their deeds exposed because they are of the darkness while we've come to the Light in Christ. When we go our own way...in the face of these difficulties...rather than stay the course that God's put before us...we become a Prodigal.
The funny thing to note of that is the guy in the story never realized anything at all in the beginning of any need to be right in his Father's eyes.
In the end his Father's opinion was all that mattered. Even if it was to be one of his Father's servants.
Giving thanks has helped me greatly in some unexpected battles in recent days. In the middle of the night when nightmares assaulted me. Instead of sheep, I recounted things that I am thankful for to God. When stress was building at work...I began recounting things that I was thankful for to God. When people get to be difficult...same.
I think of those in that chapter in Hebrews who were great in the faith...my life isn't near as harsh as their's was and they were thankful anyway.
"Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"
And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"
Give thanks with a grateful heart (with a grateful heart)
Give thanks to the Holy One (to the Holy One)
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son
Give thanks with a grateful heart (with a grateful heart)
Give thanks to the Holy One (to the Holy One)
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"
And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich (I am rich)
Because of what the Lord has done for us"
Give thanks
We give thanks to You" - "Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart" - Henry Smith 1978
We've perhaps heard the phrase "When the going gets tough, the tough get going.".
There's been many times in my life when the going got tough and I ran instead. I didn't want to continue down that road. Granted there were, in the midst of some of those times, when I should have parted ways before I got to that point. It was my own stubborness that kept me where I was too long. Other times I ran because of not being able to cope with the level of stress that accompanied such people.
So what do we do when we're constantly hit with people that won't let up?
What do we do with situations that are bigger than us?
Did God stop being God in our moments of life?
Did God all the sudden forget about us in the middle of our troubles?
Did God at all stop being who He is because of anything?
No God didn't stop being God...never has...never will. It's us who either do like the 12 and stay with Jesus or like the rest who departed from Him because they thought His words too difficult to follow. Sometimes I wonder about those 70 that had walked with Him so well then left like that.
We're promised that Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. Yet often when the going gets tough we're the one's who turn and run. Run to something 'safe'. Something that provides a realistically temporary personal peace in this world.
Giving thanks for blessings is easy.
Giving thanks for what's not going right...not so much.
Giving thanks when everything is falling apart...a bit more difficult.
Giving thanks when it's feeling like an endless time of pain and dispair...even more so.
But we're taught to give thanks in everything. "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB.
Goes right with 2 Thessalonians 4:3a NASB "For this is the will of God, your sanctification;".
Which in turn goes with some of what Jesus taught the Disciples on how to pray: "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven".
We're not going to find ourselves until we lose ourselves. Jesus said as much in saying what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul? Jesus said also that we're to take up our own cross and follow Him. Think you're going to have time or ability to hold onto the world around you while holding onto that cross? The cross of Christ too everything He had to keep it on his shoulders. And that was just the cross bar. We read that another was pressed into service to help carry the other part.
When we choose to go our own way....we then choose to be disobedient to God. Life might look good in the mean time after doing so. But in time we will eventually find out that it wasn't the way to go. When we do our own thing we are not fighting the good fight. We are not keeping the faith. We are not running the race set before us.
Giving thanks keeps life in perspective. Another P word. Persistance, Press On, and now Perspective.
Satan does not want us to have God's perspective on our life. He wants us to only view it from our own. He wants us to fit in with his world and not God's. The more we fit in with the world the less Satan's got to remotely consider us a threat. When we willingly strive to fit in with this world we're doing his work for him.
Giving thanks keeps our eyes on Jesus. Yet another song comes to mind: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.
Life's not going to go our way when our way is God's way. We're promised that if the world hated Jesus it's not going to be fond of us either.
We're told that those who choose to live Godly in Christ Jesus would suffer. None of what Peter, Paul, John etc wrote about was a cake walk. The history of the beginning of the Church was no cake walk. It was war. War that encompassed everything from personal life to public. From home to work. It cost thousands and thousands their physical life to follow Jesus.
A funny thing that song "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus". It's incredibly hard to look Jesus in the eye when we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing.
Our words won't reflect our walk with Jesus.
Our deeds won't reflect our walk with Jesus.
Take time today to stop and consider what road you are on. Is it aligned with the will of God? We already saw that giving thanks is the will of God as well as our sanctification. Keep on searching the Scriptures. You'll find more. When you find that you're NOT...STOP...turn around. Repent and come back to Jesus. He's only 1 step away from you. When the Prodigal realized what truth really was...he returned to be obedient to it.
Find at least 1 thing to be thankful for....and mean it...to God. Repeat it as often as you can. Add to it. Lather...rinse...repeat.
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