Lent Day 18.
Dear Paul,
As I’ve reflected on your words regarding the giving of thanks, I find myself a bit frustrated.
You make it seem so….so….simple.
Yet, if the giving of thanks is a lifestyle, then I am failing at this aspect of life!
Life isn’t easy; and, when it’s not, it’s quite difficult to be filled with thanksgiving.
You know the things that fill my prayers…things that are personal…painful…problematic! Things that weigh heavy on my thoughts and in my heart. This list often seems bigger than my ability to be grateful; downright suffocating at times!
Desiring a heart of thanks,
Peg
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Dear Peg,
You have correctly discerned thankfulness with four words:
gratitude is a choice!
Obviously, you aren’t going to feel like giving thanks for the situations that are difficult. I never ask you to do so. Hear what I do say:
(In the middle of all things… give thanks. In spite of the things…give thanks. In the process of…give thanks. Whether you feel like it or not…find ways to give thanks.)
I would never ask you to do something I didn’t model for you. So, in Acts, chapter 16, you read the story of how Silas and I were thrown into prison for helping release a slave-girl from the captivity of divination. Her masters didn’t much appreciate our brand of help, so they tore off our clothing and beat us with rods, and if that weren’t enough, threw us into prison.
There, beaten, bloody, bruised, we were chained with our feet in stocks to the wall. There was nothing to do but pray. Praying reminded us that we serve a God who is bigger than our circumstances, who has a Sovereign plan for everything that happens, and that, in comparison, our prison was a very small thing.
Praying turned to thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving turned to praise.
Praise turned to singing.
As Silas and I plowed through our prison praise list, God responded with an earthquake. Our shackles fell off, and the prison doors flew open. We could have run, but we remembered God had us there for a reason. He wasn’t through with us yet. That prison became our pulpit. The gospel of Jesus needed proclamation…
Long story short, the result of our grateful hearts led to the salvation of many souls that night.
When you remember that with me, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37)…When you remember that all things do work together for good to those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28)…When you remember that I will use all things to conform you to the image of my son (Romans 8:29), it’s easy to give thanks, not “for,” but “in.”
???
With grace,
Paul
PS. You might consider a prison playlist on your phone for just such a time as this…