Give Thanks... for the Bad Stuff?

[StaceyLovesJesus]

𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀… 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳?

We all know that scripture instructs those of us in Christ to be thankful IN all things. But it also instructs us to be thankful FOR all things. (Ephesians 5:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:18)

𝗪𝗛𝗬?

𝗕𝗘𝗖𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗗 𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦.

How can God promise us that all things will work together for good 𝗶𝗳 𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗜𝗡 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀? (Romans 8:28)

𝗛𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗯𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗛𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝗺!)... 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗛𝗲’𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳” 𝘁𝗼𝗼.… 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆…𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀…𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱.

Beloved child of God — yes…
He’s in that closed door, that unanswered prayer.
He is in that painful breakup.
He is in that medical diagnosis.
He is in that friend’s betrayal.
He is in the company downsizing, that hardship.
He is in that accident, that tragedy.
He is in that situation you are wrongfully suffering.
He is even in our bad decisions and foolish mistakes.

But 𝗛𝗢𝗪 is He in such things?

𝗛𝗘’𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝙒𝙃𝙔.

𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗙𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗖𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗘 𝗚𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗢𝗪 𝗜𝗧𝗦 𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗣𝗨𝗥𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗘. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲? To reveal to us the glorious 𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗦 of the accomplished work of Christ — and by them to transform us “from glory to glory.” (Romans 8:28-30; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 1:11)

FOR EXAMPLE —
He may be working to reveal Himself as our Father, that we may find rest in our identity as His child… no longer to live as an orphan (i.e. as though everything depended on us). (John 14:18)
He may be working to reveal the perfect love He has for us, that the fear and anxiety that cripples us may be driven from our life. (1 John 4:18)
He may be surgically removing a root of pride… by wounding it. (Psalm 119:75)
He may be working His endurance in us, maturing us, preparing us for greater service. (James 1:2-4; 2 Timothy 2:3)
He may be using our dis-comfort to draw us to His comfort; or using our exhausting fleshly strivings to direct us to His all-sufficient grace. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4; 12:9; Hebrews 4: 9-10)
TWO THINGS He is ALWAYS doing in ALL THINGS: teaching us to depend on Him more, and working to glorify His Name. (Romans 11:36)

I often need to be reminded of these things, and to learn to look at all of my life 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯. (2 Corinthians 4:18; 5:7)

The command to give thanks for all things challenges us to 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦, 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, and 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘧 both 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘁𝘆 and 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 that pervades every aspect of our lives and circumstances. This post is not about making light of any believer’s suffering, but of magnifying our God who can be trusted through it all.

We must ever remember the Cross, the ultimate demonstration of how God took the greatest evil… and brought forth the greatest good.

Lord… thank you… 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, including this hard thing I’m going through right now. Even though you don’t always protect me from bad things, thank you for 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 protecting me from the intentions of the enemy. I want to honor you with my trust more and more, trusting Your faithful love and the wisdom of Your ways.

~ Ruth Brentner

 

[mattfivefour]

This is a hard teaching. But not new. 2700 years ago King David wrote:

I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.​

And, more than 1000 years before King David, Job said:

Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.​

In the past I have erred in my preaching because I have incorrectly stated that the Bible doesn't tell us to praise God for our circumstances, but in our circumstances. Clearly I was wrong. Ephesians 5:20 says the opposite. Yet since we cannot --or at least should not-- build any doctrine on a single scripture, we have to temper this verse by bringing to bear every other verse on suffering. This is the way to get the proper view of what God is trying to teach us on the subject of thankfulness, praise, and suffering.

The issue comes down to one of trust. Can we trust God in all circumstances, knowing that He is in all that He does and all that He permits in our lives? Based on scripture alone (although as we grow in the Lord we can more and more add experience) the answer is yes. And a resounding yes at that!

The crux of the matter is not can we, but do we? Intellectually, the answer is often "oh yes!”. But, as the expression goes, when the rubber meets the road the answer is not so clear cut. "Oh yes!" I boldly say from the safety of my Bible study; but when the beloved partner dies, the terrible disease hits, the child suffers beyond measure, the answer is not so glib. It is then that I have to fight the good fight of faith; it is then that the struggle to know God moves from the intellectual to the experiential, from theory to actual practice. And I don't think you need me to tell you that that is not an easy thing. We can simply look to all the accounts in the Word of God to see how difficult it is to come to the place where we can trust God and thank Him ... not just in all things but for all things.

The good news is that God always gives us grace to deal with everything. (Psalms 73:26; Hebrews 4:16; 1st Peter 5:10; James 1:2-4) As Paul said:

God said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)​

To which the apostle went on to say:

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)​

Amen.

My prayer for all of you who are suffering at this moment --or who will in the future be suffering-- is this: that He who keeps Israel will also keep you; that You will come to know that you need not fear, for He has redeemed you; He has called you by your name; you are His! And when (not if, but when) you pass through the waters, He will be with you; and when (not if, but when) you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you: and when (not if, but when) you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze, for He is the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Finally, with Paul, I pray for you that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:16-21)

And amen!

 

[CarlA]

Thank you StacyLovesJesus I really need to be reminded of that now!

 

[Tall Timbers]

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Whatever happens to me in this life is okay with me when I understand that God uses it all for my good and it will shape me into the person I will be for all eternity.

 

[1LoverofGod]

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:3-4

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

In Dachau, one of the women's barracks had fleas. The fleas kept the Nazi guards out so the women could have Bible study and evangelize Also other benefits, like sleep, once one got used to the fleas.






GOD!!!
in Jesus' Name

 

[CarlA]

Thanks Ghoti I had forgotten about that one with the fleas!