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Thanksgiving is right around the corner. During this holiday season, we start thinking about our blessings. Some of us may participate in the count-down to Thanksgiving by posting something we are thankful for everyday leading up to the holiday. We thank God for all the good things in our life like family, friends, fried chicken ;), etc.. However, do we stop and take time to thank God for the fleas? Say what!?! Why in the world would we thank God for such a disgusting creature?
A lesson from two sisters
That is the question Corrie Ten Boom asked her sister Betsie after Betsie suggested they should be thankful for fleas. At the time, Corrie and Betsie were living in a concentration camp. One night, while reading the Bible they had smuggled into the camp, they stumbled across 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which states,
“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
According to Focus on the Family’s account of, The Hiding Place, Corrie had just asked her sister Betsie how they could live in such a place. Betsie offered this verse as the answer. The two sisters then began praying. They thanked God for things like the cramped barracks because the closeness gave them more warmth and allowed them to share the Bible with more of the women. One by one, they took the negative things about the camp and found a reason to be thankful – until it came to fleas. Corrie insisted there was no reason for them to be thankful for the fleas. Later, Corrie and Betsy discovered the fleas in the barracks kept the guards away. Because the guards stayed away, Corrie and Betsy were able to teach the other women about the Bible without getting punished.
This powerful story encourages that even in the most hopeless circumstances and in our hardest storms we can find a reason to be thankful. Are we looking for blessings even in hard circumstances? Learning to be thankful in hard circumstances benefits us in many ways.
It helps us grow.
You are either growing or shrinking – when we look at the negative, we shrink back in fear; when we look at the positive, we grow.
When I think about finding things to be thankful for in difficult circumstances, Joseph also comes to mind. If you are not familiar with Joseph’s story, you can find it in Genesis 37-the end of the book. I will give you a brief summary of the story.
The story of Joseph
Joseph was one of the 12 sons of Jacob. Jacob’s father showed favoritism towards Joseph that made his brothers jealous. Because of their jealousy, Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave into Egypt. As a slave in Potiphar’s house, Joseph looked to God for help and God blessed him in everything he did. Joseph gained a prominent position in Potiphar’s house. Unfortunately, Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of taking advantage of her. In anger, Potiphar threw Joseph in prison. Even in prison, Joseph remained faithful to God and God continued to bless Joseph. Joseph was given another prominent position in the prison. Eventually, Joseph is released from prison and becomes second in command over Egypt. While second in command, Joseph’s brothers come to Joseph asking for food because of a famine. Joseph had every right to be angry and want to get even with his brothers. Not only did he go through slavery, he also went through imprisonment. However, Joseph was able to see God’s hand in it all and forgive his brothers. After Jacob, Joseph’s father dies, his brothers are still afraid Joseph will get even. Joseph comforts them saying,
“Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:19-20).
In Joseph’s difficult circumstances, he found reasons to be thankful. As a result, Joseph continued to grow. When we look for blessings, we grow even in tough situations.
When we see the blessings, it helps build our faith.
Through the story of the Ten Boom’s and Joseph, we see that even in the worst circumstances God had a hand in working things out for good. When we choose to look for blessings in the midst of trials, Romans 8:28 becomes more real. This verse says,
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Even in our worst struggles, we can know God’s got us. This builds our faith and trust in God.
Negative circumstances bring us closer to the cross.
In our book, Princess Training, Abigail talks about a car accident my family was involved in. This was one of the scariest, most painful things I have experienced. I was in so much pain the night of the car accident that no matter which way I turned, I could not sleep. I finally tried to think about something – anything to get my mind off of the pain. My mind went straight to Jesus and the cross. Jesus died the cruelest most painful death so you and I could be free. The pain I felt from the accident was nothing compared to what He went through. So instead of dwelling on my pain, I was given a new appreciation for the cross and what Jesus did for me.
Because Jesus loved us so much, He went through almost every type of pain we could face so we could be free from eternal pain. We now have the promise of something better, and we can live this life with joy and thankfulness.
When Jesus walked on the earth, the cross was a very shameful and negative symbol of torture. As Christians, we see it as a blessing and a symbol of hope. Christ took something bleak and used it to give us a blessing. This not only gives us hope for a better future, it also gives us hope today that God can take the hardest things in our life and give us a blessing through them.
This Thanksgiving, instead of only looking at the positive things to be thankful for, let’s also look at the blessings we are given even in negative situations.
Focus on the Family’s, The Hiding Place:
In the post we mentioned Focus on the Family’s version of the Hiding Place. Focus on the Family adapted the story of the Ten Boom family into a radio drama. If you are not big on books but love listening to stories, I would highly recommend this inspirational story.
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