Thanks For What?
“… always giving thanks to God …”
Ephesians 5:20 (NIV)
She was a young woman with three children ages 6-10. One morning, very early, she woke up to find her husband in great physical distress. He’d been in the hospital just days earlier but was sent home like with a diagnosis of an upset stomach.
With a kindly neighbour watching the children, she left for the hospital. When she arrived she was escorted into the waiting room. No one else was in the room. A specialist spoke briefly with her.
A half hour later he came back into the room and said, “I’m sorry but we couldn’t save him.” The new widow looked around the empty room wondering who he was speaking to, and then it dawned upon her that he was talking to her. She had to identify her husband, and the nurse who escorted her into the examination room was kind and gentle.
Now it was time to go home and break the news to the children. As might be expected, they all were shocked and wept. For the rest of the day people came and went. Some brought food, some offered help of any kind, and some simply wept with them.
That night as the mother prepared the children for bed, she told them that they were going to have family prayers as usual. As they sat on the floor of the girls’ bedroom, she told them that when each one prayed they were to include something they were thankful for.
She felt that even at such a tragic time it was important to remember the good things God had given them. She was following the teaching of our verse for today.
When it came to the 6 year old boy’s turn to pray, he thanked God that the ants were on the outside of the house and they were on the inside. He offered a very simple word of thanksgiving, but it was real and he meant it. There was no doubt that God heard and understood.
Perhaps you suffer greatly and can’t see anything good in your situation. Can you think of some small thing like the little boy who, hours earlier, lost his father whom he loved greatly?
In the confusion of our thoughts and the pain of our sorrow, let us still thank God for prayer, for His attention to us in our grief, for the fact He understands our pain. God witnessed the horrible suffering and death of His beloved Son, as Jesus died for our sins. Yes, He can be sympathetic with us. Why not find some reason for thanks amidst the pain and sorrow you now feel?
God hears every prayer whether you are young or old.
“How do we know a saint? a wise man asked. By the number of his prayers, the diligence of his charities? No, by the way in which he always gives thanks.“ Joseph Fort Newton