I have often heard; ‘Never pray for patience or God will give you plenty of opportunities to practice it.’ Life has its ways of teaching us…if we will pay attention and learn. Just yesterday I posted a blog sharing a personal testimony that is important to me. It was the story of how divine intervention in the form of a kidney stone helped doctors find three aneurysms that were about to shorten my life ten years ago.
Today I got up ready to head to the office for just another day However, if we will keep our spiritual eyes open no day is just another day. God is always showing us something, often in ways we don’t expect. My wife woke up feeling bad due to fluctuating blood pressure problems. So the first plan was for her to go to school for necessary preparation to leave class early and go to the doctor as soon as they could see her. I would check in from my office later. The plan changed as soon as she saw her car with a flat tire. Now I would also be leaving my office early to take her to the doctor and then fix a flat tire.
Feeling tired and frustrated after the events of the day, my plans, were interrupted; I was finally headed to the tire dealer with a flat tire in the bed of my truck. It was then that God reminded me of a verse I memorized years ago. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Did God just forget my circumstances? All my plans for the day were shot due to the circumstances. Why is it His will for me to give thanks?
He knows that giving thanks unlocks spiritual eyesight to see and enjoy His grace. OK! Let me start giving thanks in my circumstances. First, I am thankful that the flat tire occurred in my garage rather than out on the road perhaps leaving my wife stranded. Second, I am thankful that I know how to change a tire and have the physical ability to do so. There are lasting benefits that come from owning my first car, as a teenager, that cost only $50 and five used tires for $4 (not each but $4 for all five used tires). In those days changing tires was almost a normal part of starting the car for a drive. I used to change tires so often I could have worked in a NASCAR pit crew.
I continued to give thanks in my circumstance. I took my tire to our tire dealer, who is a good friend, and talked to his wife who is running a 10 K soon. She beat cancer and became a runner. She smiled reminding me that this circumstance was not a big problem, it could have been worse. It is hard to think about ‘difficult circumstances’ when you are talking to a cancer survivor who has a bright smile. I am thankful that Cathy’s health situation is something that only required a change in medication. I am thankful for our health. As we talked about life circumstances, I smiled and said “Hey, we could be living in Libya!” It was my way of reminding me that we are blessed with all our freedoms and also a reminder to pray for those who are oppressed. I began to realize how blessed we are in so many ways.
I drove home with a repaired tire in the back of my truck and continued to count all the circumstances in my life for which I can be thankful. God’s will for my life is to continue to give thanks in all circumstances. As I continue to do so I see His hand in so many things that are beyond my patience and understanding. When we begin looking we can find there is truly something in which we can give thanks in ALL circumstances. There is an old church hymn that reminds us to count our blessings “when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.” There is no better way to transform the day than giving thanks in all circumstances and counting blessings.
