Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. (Philippians 2:12, 13, 15, 16 NLT)
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT)
My first post of the new year! Yes, I know it has taken a while, but you will understand why very shortly. This new year kicked off with a bang! What better way to start afresh than with a renovation project? We had been planning this for a while, and finally had everything in place to completely strip our only bathroom down to the studs and completely renovate it. It would take about a week and a bit of hard work, but then it would be done! Well, as any of you who have done renovations know, it doesn’t always go according to plan and due to some unexpected problems (those tend to crop up a little more often when working on a 100+ year old house, I am discovering) we are just now seeing the end in sight. It’s been almost 4 weeks. Add to that a thick layer of dust that has settled over everything in our house that I have no hope of getting cleaned up until this reno is done. Add to that a mobile toddler who is now walking and bent on exploring, who has of necessity been confined to the living room for his safety and is in the midst of teething. Add to that, I have had some terrible back tension which is causing constant headaches. Add to that, BPV – benign positional vertigo- a condition in which the calcium crystals within the inner ear become dislodged from their proper place from time to time and cause vertigo. Add to that, the exceptionally cold weather we are now experiencing and you now have a good picture of the beginning of my year.
What you just read is what I have given as a response for the past several weeks whenever someone has asked how I was doing. It’s a rather informative response, I think. But, doesn’t it sound a little like complaining to you? Can you catch the exasperated grumbling underlying the words? That’s what came to me yesterday, after I finished a little ranting session with God before bed. It became apparent the more I ranted that what I was saying was sounding less like asking God for assistance and more like a throwing a long list of complaints in His face and it got me thinking – how often an occurrence is this?
When you read through the story of the Israelites on their way to the Promised Land, you see that time and time again, when something went wrong, they murmured. They started complaining and grumbling about their situation, until eventually they reaped the harvest of their murmuring and were forbidden entry into the land of abundance that awaited them. I think today we are more like the Israelites than we realize. The difference is that we don’t call our murmuring what it really is. We disguise it as “venting” or “expressing how we feel” or simply just answering the question, “how are you?”. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that we shouldn’t share how we are feeling with others or let people know what is going on in our lives when they ask, but I think the underlying attitude when we share these things is what makes the difference. Am I complaining or am I simply sharing from a place where, regardless of my situation, I have a sense of gratitude.
Lately it seems I have been confronted with stories of people who, in the midst of exceptional adversity, have a profound sense of gratitude and faith in God and live their lives reflecting that. I am reminded of a story from the book The Hiding Place about Corrie and Betsie ten Boom, two amazing women who were sent to a German concentration camp for hiding Jews in their home during World War Two. Here is an excerpt from the book…
“The deck above us was too close to let us sit up. We lay back, struggling against the nausea that swept over us from the reeking straw…Suddenly I sat up, striking my head on the cross-slats above. Something had pinched my leg.
“‘Fleas!’ I cried. ‘Betsie, the place is swarming with them!’
“We scrambled across the intervening platforms, heads low to avoid another bump, dropped down to the aisle and hedged our way to a patch of light.
“‘Here! And here another one!’ I wailed. ‘Betsie, how can we live in such a place!’
“‘Show us. Show us how.’ It was said so matter of factly it took me a second to realize she was praying. More and more the distinction between prayer and the rest of life seemed to be vanishing for Betsie.
“‘Corrie!’ she said excitedly. ‘He’s given us the answer! Before we asked, as He always does! In the Bible this morning. Where was it? Read that part again!’
“I glanced down the long dim aisle to make sure no guard was in sight, then drew the Bible from its pouch. ‘It was in First Thessalonians,’ I said. We were on our third complete reading of the New Testament since leaving Scheveningen.
“In the feeble light I turned the pages. ‘Here it is: “Comfort the frightened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all…'” It seemed written expressly to Ravensbruck.
“‘Go on,’ said Betsie. ‘That wasn’t all.’
“‘Oh yes:’…”Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.'”
“‘That’s it, Corrie! That’s His answer. “Give thanks in all circumstances!” That’s what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!’ I stared at her; then around me at the dark, foul-aired room.
“‘Such as?’ I said.
“‘Such as being assigned here together.’
“I bit my lip. ‘Oh yes, Lord Jesus!’
“‘Such as what you’re holding in your hands.’ I looked down at the Bible.
“‘Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all these women, here in this room, who will meet You in these pages.’
“‘Yes,’ said Betsie, ‘Thank You for the very crowding here. Since we’re packed so close, that many more will hear!’ She looked at me expectantly. ‘Corrie!’ she prodded.
“‘Oh, all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed suffocating crowds.’
“‘Thank You,’ Betsie went on serenely, ‘for the fleas and for–‘
“The fleas! This was too much. ‘Betsie, there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.’
“‘Give thanks in all circumstances,’ she quoted. It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.
“And so we stood between tiers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong.”
The story goes on to share that they sisters found that they were able to share the Gospel freely with many women in this new barracks as the guards never ventured inside. They later found out that the reason the guards wouldn’t come in was because of the fleas.
Challenging much? I think so. Kind of puts things in perspective for me. A couple of years ago I was struggling with severe depression and I felt God asking me to commit to one year of gratitude. Every day, regardless of how I felt, I needed to find one thing, no matter how small, to be thankful for. I decided to try it and it changed my life! Within that year, I went from such a dark place where it was hard to get up in the morning, to being a brand new person who looked forward to what a new day would bring. That one tiny habit made changes in my heart and outlook on life that I didn’t even realize were taking place until months had passed. However, when the year was over, I wrote down my thoughts in my journal and then after a while forgot to be intentionally thankful. Truth be told, I got lazy. Now I find myself looking in the “mirror” of God’s word and realize that I’ve allowed ungratefulness to take root in my life once again.
So, while this year is still young, I am recommitting to live a life of gratitude! Not just for 365 days, but EVERY DAY. And I am writing it here so that I will be accountable. Starting right now, I will work on curbing the complaints and humbling myself in thankfulness to God for His goodness every day. Oh, and by the way…if I’m talking to you and it sounds like grumbling coming out of my mouth, you can give me a little nudge. I give you permission. 🙂
May the Holy Spirit overshadow you, His Word lead you, and His blessings overtake you in 2013! Happy New Year, Everyone!
Of Shattered Things 