Season 1 Episode 24 - Have you ever felt overwhelmed by a situation? In today's episode, I share an important (and surprising) principle about what our first response should be.
"Reflect on This" is the podcast version of short email devotionals I send to my family and friends, where I am sharing the things I am learning about the ways and nature of God, through applying my study of the Scriptures to the world around me.
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Music credit:
Be Thou My Vision Interlude, by Sarah Bereza
Sarah.Bereza@gmail.com
Remember the story I shared recently about our house being flooded, and the resulting seven months of renovation? I shared the similarities between that renovation project and the renovation of our souls that Paul describes in Romans chapter 12. I want to share another story today about that flood event.
The day immediately following the overnight flood was filled with LOTS and LOTS of hard work, as we began the long process of sorting through the debris, assessing the damage, salvaging and cleaning what we could, calling to schedule insurance adjusters, flood remediation companies, general contractors, and so forth. We went to bed that night exhausted, and discouraged by the seemingly unending amount of cleaning and repairing that lay ahead of us.
The next morning, my wife was upstairs, looking out the window on the front side of the house. We had been learning the biblical principle of giving thanks in everything and for everything. So, she thanked God for the flood, and for the immense amount of work that lay ahead of us. Then she began to thank Him that He would “supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
And just at that moment, as she was looking out the window and thanking God, the van from our church pulled up in front of our house, and a team of youths and adults emerged, ready to help us! What a timely, unexpected, and encouraging answer to my wife’s prayer! And this was just the first of many unexpected blessings (clearly from God) that helped us navigate those 7 challenging months of restoration.
In a previous episode, I shared the importance of processing and transforming our pain, so that we don’t pass our pain along to others. I mentioned several biblical steps to transform our pain, including acknowledging our pain, seeking support, confessing our poor responses, crying out to God for help, asking God to transform our hearts, and meditating on relevant verses for ongoing transformation of our souls.
But this story of my wife thanking God for the flood reminded me that I had left out one very important biblical step in the transformation process. After acknowledging our pain, the next step is to thank God for the pain.
Ephesians 5:20 NASB Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
We must give thanks for everything (by looking at the blessings that God has given in the past), and give thanks in everything (by thanking God even in the midst of current challenging circumstances).
In every situation we encounter in this physical world (good or bad), we are to give thanks to God. By thanking God for everything, we are reminded of the blessings that God has given us in the past. This brings hope to our hearts that God will once again be with us. I will admit that thanking God in everything, in the midst of a current challenging situation, is harder. Yet often this very process of pausing to thank God, especially in the midst of a challenging situation, is the method that God uses to guide us to a better situation. This attitude of thanks also puts our hearts in the right posture to recognize God’s presence, protection, and provision during times of blessing and challenge. My wife’s act of giving thanks is a wonderful example of this. And it allows us to enter into (and dwell within) the shelter or secret place of God in our spiritual lives (as mentioned in Psalm 91). You might be asking, “What exactly is this shelter or secret place of God?” The answer is in a future episode!
Today, I encourage you to “Reflect on This.”