My daughter and I are in a local production of The Hiding Place, a play based on the life of Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie and her family were followers of Christ who hid Jews from the Germans during World War II. They were discovered, captured, and imprisoned. Only Corrie survived the camps. To call it a powerful story is an understatement of the highest order. This week I am taking a look at some of the lessons we can glean from this story.
…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (I Thessalonians 5:18).
How do you give thanks for evil things?
In the camps, Betsy encouraged her sister to give thanks for the overflowing barracks, the overflowing toilets, even the fleas that infested their living quarters.
I think that might be just a little bit nuts.
I know, they’re spiritual giants, and I’m a spiritual hamster, but I can still disagree, can’t I?
So here’s the deal. The Ten Boom sisters were suffering because of their service to Jesus. So, in that sense, they could thank God for the privilege of suffering for Christ’s sake.
But the verse says, “Give thanks in all circumastances,” not, “Give thanks for all circumstances.”
There is a difference.
We’ve all been through various levels of yuck in our lives. Do we thank God for getting fired, or getting in a car wreck, or getting dumped, or losing a loved one when we’re right in the middle of the mess?
I don’t think we do. At least, I don’t.
I thank God that he is still there, even though I can’t see him. I thank him that he will hold me together, even though my world is crumbling. I thank him that someday, looking back, I might get a glimpse of the way he used the evil, the mess, the yuck, for my good and his glory.
I thank him that, my circumstances and fears and failures to the contrary, he remains God.
Hey, you. Beloved. What are you in the middle of, right now, that requires a dose of thankfulness? Perhaps you can’t thank him for the pit, but can you thank him from the pit?
Happy Wednesday, Beloved.