Sunday, my pastor; The Reverend Doctor Joe Hyde, used this verse along with the two ahead of it as his text. He pointed out that we needed to give thanks for the Obvious things; those things that happen every day that we may not think that much about. We just expect these things to happen; like breathing, getting up, having a job, or a home. The things that are always there and we do not miss but that we would miss if suddenly those things were missing! Give thanks for the obscure things. These are the things that go on around us that we have think about in order to see yet we also take for granted.
The last thing he spoke of were the Objectionable things. These are the things we spot within seconds of them occurring. An example he gave was from Corrie Ten Boom's life. The fleas in the housing of death camps. This example, for me is the most telling of what the objectionable things can be. Fleas, make one itch; their bite are annoying and all in all they are a pain to get rid of! Yet, the fleas for the Ten Boom sisters did a couple of things; without the fleas they would not have been able to keep their Bible; they would not have been able to read their Bible nor could they have lead the Bible studies in the death camp housing. If you to not know or do not remember the story; the guards were afraid of/did not desire to be infested with the fleas therefore they did not do the greatest search of the prisoner coming in the camp and the guards also did not enter the housing because of the fleas; which meant what went on in the housing for the most part was unseen by the authorities.
As I look at the giving thanks for the Obvious things I see a need to improve. I do not have a really thankful attitude at 5 or 6 a.m. as I start my work day; I really do not have that thankful of an attitude at most hours some days. As for the objectionable things, while I do not have to deal with fleas or Nazi Death Camp guards, there are those things in life that are the fleas. Customers who are a pain; co-workers who are worse than the aformentioned customers! Days when things just are not going as planned. Yet those things are there for God to use to shape and change my life.
A guy I know blogged about John Piper's essay on cancer. Rev. Piper takes an objectionable thing, cancer, and gives some advice that to me is mind blowing and it will definately expand one's thinking on the "objectionable thing" of life. I see many things that could replace the word "Cancer" in Piper's booklet!
So, GIVE THANKS IN ALL THINGS!!
No comments:
Post a Comment