Thankful
for Everything
The thankful heart sees the best part of
every situation. It sees problems and weaknesses as opportunities, struggles as
refining tools, and sinners as saints in progress. Francis Frangipane
Do you have a thankful heart and, if not, how
do you get one? It’s not like you can go
out and get a thankful heart transplant.
I must confess that earlier this week my
heart wasn’t very thankful. On Monday I
was driving to work and my brand new car started running rough and then the
engine light came on. Of course, I didn’t
know what the icon on the dash was so I pull off the freeway into a parking lot
and pull out the owner’s manual to see what that light could mean. I am sitting there with all the things
running through my head about what I needed to do. I mean it is a brand new car and it shouldn’t
have this kind of problem right?
That is not exactly right is it? Is there some unspoken rule that says that if
you buy a new car nothing will go wrong for the first year? So I call Roadside Assistance and they send a
tow truck to take my car to the shop. I
spoke with the service department yesterday and they tell me they are going to
pull the engine to see what it wrong with it. The kicker is they may need to keep it in the shop for 2 weeks and I don’t
qualify for a free rental car. I had one
of the ladies at work tell me she would be down at the dealership telling them
they would give her a rental or else.
This is the point where most of us ruin a
great opportunity to show someone else who God really is. I could have taken this ladies advice and
taken my frustration out on the Service Manager at the dealership and I must
admit I considered doing just that. Then
something stopped me. When the Service
manager finished telling me that I wouldn’t get my car back for 2 weeks I just
got quiet and then thanked him and asked him to call me when he had any new information.
I called my husband and asked him if he could
stop by the dealership after work to get several things out of my car and to
see if he could get more details about what they think is the problem.
Here is the blessing part. As my husband was talking to the Service
Manager he tells my husband to thank me for being so nice to him about the
car. He told my husband that he can’t
tell you the number of times women come in and yell at them because they bought
a new car and it is already in the shop for repairs. The second blessing in all
this is that I didn’t trade in my old twelve year old Green Machine as my
husband calls it because they wouldn’t give me anything for it when I bought
the new one. So I actually didn’t need a
rental.
Each of us has a choice in how we deal with
trials in our life. In today’s scripture
James tells us to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing
that the testing of your faith produces patience.” It doesn’t say count some of it joy or a few
things joy. It says ALL. In Thessalonians it tells us to “pray without
ceasing and in EVERYTHING give thanks for this is the will of God.” It
doesn’t say in a few things give thanks or pray every once in a while. If we are to do God’s will we need to be
following His Word.
Prayer for the Day:
Heavenly Father, I had some challenges this week but You showed me through
other people what it means to be thankful for everything. I don’t always do this. Help me to count it all joy when I face various
trials in life. If I am prepared to face
the trials of life I will handle it well and give thanks for the lessons and
wisdom learned through those trials.
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