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"One of the many differences between victim thinking and victor living is thankfulness. When we are thankful, things change. Our attitude changes."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 184.
I recently ended up in the ER in excruciating pain. This pain came from nowhere. One moment I was totally fine, the next minute it was all I could do to just pace back and forth trying to deal with the waves of pain that was hitting me so hard.
After a bunch of tests I found out that I was working on passing a kidney stone. I was told that that pain is an example of what women go through in child birth. All I can say is WOW! Do I ever have respect for my wife and all the other women who have given birth to their children. You ladies are simply amazing!
In the middle of all this pain I found myself doing something that caught me by surprise. I was actually thanking Jesus in the middle of my pain. I don't believe I was thanking Him for the pain but I found a real peace in just being thankful to Jesus.
That event was something new to me. I can't remember ever being in such a place and subconsciously thanking my God in the middle of the pain. I can distinctly remember thanking God in times my pain was taken away, but thanking Him while still in pain - that even sounds weird to me as I think about that situation.
The thing is that my thanksgiving really helped. I wasn't thanking God to try and help me better deal with my situation. I was thanking God because I was simply thankful. Even in that painful place that evening in the ER I had a lot to be thankful for. Even in the worst of situations, we have so much to thank God for. I want that to be more and more of the victor's life God has made possible for me to live.
I love what our Bible reading says on the subject of thanksgiving.
I will give thanks to the Lord because He is right and good. I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. Psalm 7:17 New Life Version (NLV)
Our reading doesn't say, I will give thanks because He gives me what I want. Or, I will give thanks because He will always make my life good. It doesn't even say, I will give thanks because He took my pain away. No, it says to give thanks because He is right AND good. That holds true whether our lives are going perfect at the time just as much as it does when we end up in the ER in excruciating pain. God is good and He is right in all that He does in and through our lives.
I know that is a hard pill to swallow when things take a turn for the worse. It is so hard to be thankful when it feels like we have nothing to be thankful for. That's the enemy trying to get us to doubt His goodness so that we will reject His righteousness. God is right when my life is going well and He is right when my life is going to hell. The same can be said about His goodness.
That evening a couple weeks ago when I was in the ER is a prime example. Based on the pain I had and the unknown I was facing, why would I ever thank God? As I sit here now I can thank of several reasons that thankfulness was part of my evening. First of all my beautiful wife was there with and for me. She has stood by my side through thick and thin. If I were to die at this moment I have been the luckiest man alive because she choose me. Then there was the care I was receiving. World class TLC beyond anything the vast majority of the world could ever expect. If all that wasn't enough, the very fact that I was able to take another breath is a gift that I hope I never take for granted. Had I not been given the amazing gift of life for a another couple of weeks I would have missed the revelation that my wife and I will be blessed with the birth of another granddaughter. Life, even a painful life has blessings hidden in it that the victor needs to start recognizing and thanking God for.
Those are but a few of the many things I have to be thankful for in my life. Even when all hell breaks loose, thanksgiving can be part of my life. I don't know where my being thankful that even in the ER came from. I hope it was because of thinking about my victor status like I have had the privileged to do these past couple of years. I hope it is because I'm beginning to believe I am who God says I am and letting that fact be what drives my life. Whatever the case, I'm thankful that I found my self thanking God in the middle of the pain. This particular episode has shed a whole new light on this walk with God that has me excited for what the future holds - even if that future turns south from time to time.
Want to make you day be filled with power? Make thanksgiving part of what drives you today. Look around - you have so much to be thankful for. Thank God constantly. It is when we are thankful that the forces of darkness are confounded in ways that make this life take on an entirely different meaning. Even if all you have in your life is the promise of an eternity with God - that's enough to make thanksgiving help you be all the victor you need to make positive changes in your world today.
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