Thankful for the HARD Stuff

Thankful for the HARD Stuff

"Give thanks IN all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." -- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Okay -- it is easy to give thanks IN ALL circumstances when things are going the way we want it to go -- or when the way is EASY. It could be that it is easy when things are going tough all around us. But what about when the IN ALL is when our loving Father is going about the business of pruning and modeling and shaping -- when He decides to pick up clay of our lives and use His "potter's hands?"

My good friend and brother in Christ, Wild Dave McCarty, President of Gospel Friendships, wrote this in a recent email:

Thank You, DaddyJesus Spirit, for the harrrd in my life that You are using to woo me to Yourself. Thank You that the nicest, sweetest, kindest, most miraculous thing you ever do for me, is to send Your Spirit to freshly convict me of my sin of independence, rooted in my sin of thinking I have wisdom worth leaning on, which leads me to trying to find LIFE in my idols, instead of in Jesus.

Thank You for lovingly thwarting my dreams and schemes, so I end up fearful, frustrated, discouraged, or bored, with fresh motivation to come running back to Jesus, and find my all in Him. Thank You that nothing in this world comes close to comparing with Jesus and His unconditional love for the likes of habitual prodigals. Thank You, thank You, thank You, for the perfectness of Your plan for my life, the perfectness of my circumstances right now, many of which my flesh hates with passion.

Thank You that no one loves me nearly as well as You, or I would certainly go awhoring after their love, leaving You behind in a cloud of dust. Thank Your love for me, Your faithfulness to me, has nothing to do with my love and faithfulness to You. Thank You that my biggest need is never changed circumstances, but always, more of Jesus at the core of my life. --

Lord, right now I needed to hear this prayer. Thanks for teaching me to thank you even for the HARD stuff. -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 12; Psalm 84-86; Romans 12

Great Quote: Spoken forgiveness, no matter how heartfelt, works best when we do not demand the response we want. I mean that when we tell people we forgive them, we must leave them free to respond to our good news however they are inclined. If the response is not what we hoped for, we can go home and enjoy our own healing in private. Lewis B. Smedes