I saw this picture on facebook this week and I loved it. It just seems to say how I feel when I am hit with a difficult time. I was asked to share a testimony of thankfulness for our Thanksgiving service at church today. The following is what I shared with a few editing changes.
I don’t need to tell you about my last two years (Gene’s long-term illness and our devastating fire this spring) or pretend that they were not difficult. I have felt like that broken sink many times but I can promise you I am still functioning. When you ponder the picture, there is something very revealing about that sink. It is still serving it’s intended purpose by receiving water and it is still useful. Life giving water that flows in also flows out.
Last night I was reading in James (5: 10-11, 13)…..
“For examples of patience in suffering dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. Are any of you suffering hardships? Then you should pray.”
Through the years I have found great comfort and encouragement from the Biblical heroes of faith. Every one of them faced suffering or great “giants” in their lives, bitter disappointments, and trials that I can’t even fathom. But they clung in faith, to the God they knew and through their suffering they endured. (Hebrews 11).
I have found that sometimes God answers prayer during difficult trials by alleviating the suffering. Sometimes he eases the suffering and other times he shows His sufficiency in the suffering.
Habakkuk (3: 17-18) asked some tough questions… what if?
- What if…. the fig tree does not blossom?
- What if…. there is no fruit on the vine?
- What if…. the olive harvest fails?
- What if…. the fields yield no food?
- What if…. all the livestock dies?
What if you lose everything? What if? Job experienced that devastation. All he had left was his whining wife and a painfully ill body. (You can read the story of Job in the Bible).
After the what ifs, Habakkuk (3:19) said, “Yet I will…rejoice in the Lord. Yet I will…. joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord is my strength”.
“What if”…what if the what if becomes reality? What if our business burned to the ground? What if my husband has an extended illness? What if my two of my babies died?
In the midst of Job’s great trial, he said the very thing he feared has come true, that which he was afraid of has happened. (Job 4:25) Often during my teen and young adult years I had recurring nightmare dreams of a fire that usually centered on the big bank barn on our family dairy farm. I hadn’t thought about it for years until our fire happened. What I had feared….
After much reckoning in Job’s life he said, “Yet I will”. Have you prepared your heart for the “Yet I will”?
Many times through the years I have preached this message to myself…. “God I trust you.” The last two years I have practiced the “Yet I will” that has been imprinted on my heart.
If you are fearful, you are not trusting. If you are not trusting, you are not thankful. Let me repeat that…. These are tough words.
But, if I trust, I will find peace. If I have peace, I will have strength to face whatever hardship comes my way. Strength gives us the courage to move forward, to rise from the ashes, or mucky pit, and to see God at work. Giving thanks is a choice. Do you remember how often your mom had to remind you growing up, “And what do you say?” Sometimes I just have to be reminded what I need to say…even if I don’t feel like it!
I make it a part of most of my prayers to express the holiness and greatness of God and to thank Him for my many blessings. In the midst of great loss and illness, I saw lots of things to be thankful for.
- How could I not see God’s mercy when I got Gene to the hospital with mere hours to spare?
- How could I not see God’s care when dozens of people showed up to help even while the fire was still smoldering.
- How could I not see God’s provision when a meal train was set up and I didn’t have to cook a meal for six weeks and yet daily I fed dozens of people.
- How could I not feel God’s peace when people sat on my patio eating and would say, “it is so peaceful back here.”
- How could I not feel God’s comfort when donations were given because people cared deeply about our huge loss.
- How could I not experience God’s leading when the market vendors gathered in a circle in our yard a few days after the fire and expressed a deep desire to stand with us and “rise from the ashes”.
- How could I not feel supported when I was told by many in the community that “I am praying for you and our church prayed for you the morning after the fire.”
- How, how could I not trust my God to carry me through?
I am so grateful and thankful I can trust him.
My testimony can best be summed up with….
Psalms: 111:1-4,7-8, 9b
“I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people.
How amazing are the deeds of the LORD! All who delight in him should ponder them.
Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails.
He causes us to remember his wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our LORD!
All he does is just and good and all his commandments are trustworthy.
They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.
What a holy, awe-inspiriting name he has.”
I have a plaque hanging in my bedroom that reminds me every day, “Thankful, grateful, blessed.”
