“Whatever it is – you are not to give thanks FOR the difficulties, but rather IN the difficulties. That is a very important distinction, and one I think we often miss. Giving thanks IN everything shows a heart of faith that God is bigger than the difficulties and that He can use them, if you approach Him with the right heart and spirit, for your good and His glory.” –Tony Evans
Oh I’m just not feeling so very thankful about some circumstances, dear readers. Do you have moments like that when life comes at you with both barrels and the joys seem few and far between? I’ve wondered long and hard about what is to be learned from unsolvable problems. I’m talking about the truly hard stuff, like parents taken from their children by disease, hurricanes that devastate the lives of good, good people, dreams deferred until it is too late to realize them. While I trust that God is for me, I struggle to discern what I am to learn from these terrible situations. Am I to grow more patient? (Sadly, I do not see signs of this.) To become somehow wiser and more gentle with others? Oh that it would be so! To learn better the ways of God? Still a great mystery to me, I’m afraid. But what if, as Tony Evans says, I am to give thanks to my Father IN the difficulties instead of FOR them? I decide to give it a try.
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1. Lord, I do not understand why there should be such a thing as Multiple Sclerosis that strips away a parent, a father, a husband, a brother, one painful inch at a time. I am not thankful for this affliction, but in the midst of it, I am deeply grateful that you are close, that you have provided loving hands and loving hearts to minister to those left behind. Tender mercies brought about in the midst of a tragic situation.
2. And what of those hurricanes, Father? Oh I most certainly do not feel thankful for storms that hurl one hundred fifty mile per hour winds and drown families, pets, homes. But in the howling winds, oh Father we have seen the ordinary people rise up in Your power, linking arms and hearts to save, to feed, to clothe, to shelter. You are certainly there, in the midst of the storm.
3. Lord, I feel very small in a very big and broken world. My talents are thin and weak, hardly a flicker of light that too often I want to shine to glorify myself instead of You. I do not remember to give thanks when my plans, my ambitions, my eager undertakings fall flat and fail. Let me always remember that I am here not for me, but for You. Thank You for your faithfulness when I forget that most important fact. In giving thanks I remember that You are bigger than my difficulties, my sin and the brokenness of this world.
Thank you, Father.
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About the Author: Dana Mentink is a two time American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award winner, a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award and a Holt Medallion winner. She is a national bestselling author of over thirty five titles in the suspense and lighthearted romance genres. She is pleased to write for Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense, Harlequin Heartwarming and Harvest House. Dana was thrilled to be a semi finalist in the Jeanne Robertson Comedy With Class Competition this year. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching third grade. Mostly, she loves to be home with Papa Bear, Yogi, Boo Boo, their nutty terrier, a chubby box turtle and a feisty parakeet. Visit her on the web at danamentink.com, her Facebook page or Instagram at Dana_Mentink.
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