In Everything, Give Thanks

In Everything, Give Thanks

Have you ever wondered where you could find an Easy Button?  I called one of my daughters-in-love a few weeks ago to wish her a happy birthday.  Immediately, I could tell that she was having a rough day, but she really didn’t want to talk about it.  We spoke for a few moments before I asked her to call me back when she was feeling better.  A couple of days later, she was able to talk about what had gone on that day. 

She had taken all four children, ages 7, 5, 3, and 1, to get their picture made.  Wisely, she planned to dress the children at the photographers.  While trying to get all of the children into the studio, Amelia, the oldest, had cried out, “Mom, look at Gabe.”  Our three-year-old grandson had found a hole in the parking lot which was filled with water from the morning rain shower, and he was up to his knees in dirt and mud.  Nora, the youngest, was crying from teething, and Evie, our five-year old, had gotten carsick and thrown up in the car.  Our son had to attend a business dinner after work, didn’t get home until late, and hadn’t thought to bring her any dinner.  Not a good birthday; not a good day. 

All of us have had days like that.  We can laugh about them a few days later but when it happens, there is nothing funny about it, nothing redeeming, and, certainly, nothing thankworthy.  Only later, given time to reflect, can we see the joy of having four precious little ones who create such minor havoc, the freshness of the flowers from the rainfall, the privilege of a car in which to get carsick, or a husband who, eventually, gets home.

One of my heroes of the faith is Corrie ten Boom, author of The Hiding Place and a Dutch Christian who was imprisoned, along with her entire family, for giving sanctuary to Jews being persecuted by the Nazis in Holland.  As a result, she and her sister Betsie were sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany.  Upon their arrival, after forced marches, crowded railroad cars, and cruel treatment, they were shoved into a barracks where they, wearily, fell onto what passed as a bed.  Immediately, they were attacked by fleas which seemed to fill the barracks.  As the women jumped from their beds and began to try to shake out the fleas, Corrie fell to the floor, weeping. 

Betsie consoled Corrie and began to pray for strength, guidance, and for those who imprisoned them.  She thanked God that she and Corrie had made the trip safely.  She thanked God that the two sisters were still together.  She thanked God that they had been able to smuggle in portions of the Bible.  Eventually, Corrie, too, began to pray with Betsie – that is until Betsie began to thank God for the fleas.  Indignantly, Corrie told Betsie that she was not going to thank God for the fleas. 

Betsie, lovingly and patiently, began to quote I Thessalonians 5:18, “But, Corrie, God’s Words tells us in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  Corrie responded, “I am not thanking Him for fleas.”  In everything…  “But, fleas?”  In everything…  Reluctantly, Corrie heard the words:  Not so much for everything, but in everything.  In obedience to God’s Word, she repeated Betsie’s prayers of thanksgiving.

While in that camp, the Corrie and Betsie experienced a freedom in that barracks unlike any of the other camps where they were imprisoned.  They were able to share their pages of Scripture with other women, comfort them when their numbers were called for extermination, and minister to them as friends.  Only months later did they learn that the reason the guards left them alone in the barracks was because of the flea infestation in their dormitory.  God has used the very thing which Corrie saw as the height of indignity as His instrument to protect them as He used Corrie and Betsie in the lives of so many others. 

Difficult times often accompany the holidays:  Financial struggles, disappointment, unrealistic expectations, illness and so much more.  Even when we don’t understand and struggle to have hope, God’s truth is that He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us.  Corrie also said, following her miraculous release from Ravensbruck, that she learned during those dark and dangerous days that there is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still.

Because of that, in everything we can give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

© 2010 Gerry Sisk

(11/24/10)