“All things are just an event.”  Leslie Householder

Think about a time when something negative happened to you that you can now look back on with gratitude and joy.

No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.  (1 Thess. 5:18; NLT)

Yes, it’s a strange title for today’s DG, but on the way home from my long weekend drive to and from a short visit with Sharon’s parents yesterday, I listened to a CD in which the Corrie ten Boom Story was told that described a time in her Nazi concentration camp experience when the women in her barracks were spared the atrocities heaped upon other women prisoners throughout the camp simply because the barracks she was in was infested with fleas and the guards were afraid to go near the place.

Can you think back on an experience in your own life that seemed devastating at the time, but that now with the passage of time and through reflection, you can actually see that the situation caused you to meet someone, or take some action that you would have not otherwise taken?  You can now see how that event had a major positive impact on your current situation.  In point of fact, you are now actually grateful that the crisis happened because of the positive effect it ultimately caused.  How wonderful it would be if we could have felt that gratitude back when the seemly negative situation was occurring.

Well, I believe that’s just what we’re supposed to be doing…according to the admonition from the Manufacturer’s Handbook cited above.  After all, it’s really just a choice, isn’t it?  We can choose to get all caught up in the crisis and feel sorry for ourself or we can choose to be thankful, even when we don’t begin to understand why just yet.  We can know that this situation is going to build something into us that we will one day be very happy we have. 

It reminds me of the Law of Comparison that I wrote about a month ago (see 8/22/08 DG).  That law said that “nothing can be considered big or small, fast or slow, unless it can be compared with something else.  This law shows that all things are relative.”  In fact, some even call this law the Law of Relativity.  When anything happens to us, it’s only a neutral event until we decide whether it’s good or bad.  It’s only bad if we compare it to something better (or conversely, only good if we compare it to something worse).  It’s our choice what we decide.

I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage, “I cried because I had no shoes, ’till I met a man who had no feet.”  Bottom line, we need to learn to be grateful for everything…even if we don’t understand why.  Easier said than done sometimes, but still a way of thinking that we need to cultivate.

Prayer Power
Lord, give us the strength to choose wisely when everything within us wants to scream out in anguish over the apparent injustice of our situation.  Grant us the grace to be grateful in everything, knowing full well that it will all turn out for our best over the long term.

Link of the Day
Trust God’s Plan

Blessings on you as you choose to be grateful in all things through this coming week.