"Bloom Where You Are Planted"

I have been putting together a family photo collection to have books made for my husband’s family.  In digging through the memorabilia, I found my mother-in-law’s testimony recounting the events of her husband’s untimely death.  In it she tells of the events leading up to and through those days.  What was especially interesting to me, in reading it this time, was at the end of her story.  She was listening to a pastor teach on “What is God’s will according to the scripture”.   In her words, she wrote

“He quoted many scriptures, which we all looked up that specifically say “This is God’s will”, but one of them made such an impact on me that I remember it to this day.  It is I Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  There was no mistake about it.  The Holy Spirit was instructing me to give thanks to God for taking my husband.  I had a struggle there and I was painfully aware that I could choose not to very easily.  But, before I left the meeting that night, I had made a commitment to God that I really desired to do His will, but I wanted it to be real and not some phony emotional thing.  The thought kept coming to me that all I had to do was to make a simple start and God would honor my offering.  And right then, a scripture that Noble often quoted, (because he leaned so heavily on it), came to me… “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure”. Phillipians 2:13.  It was awkward at first to say “Thank you Lord for everything… even for taking my husband”.  But, the more I  offered my sacrifice of praise to Him, the more He poured into me. “

Her story is yet another confirmation of how significantly God considers our willingness to thank Him for our circumstances.   Her willingness to do so, in spite of the obvious pain and difficulty of her loss, allowed God to help her release her disappointments, missed expectations and sorrows and begin to move toward a new path God was preparing her for.  I see again how beautifully God uses the act of thanking Him, as a release of our wills, our plans or our expectations to open our hearts to accept His bigger plans for us.  It is a conscious decision to submit to the one whom I say I trust and believe has a plan for us.  Being thankful is easy when the things of life are all going the way I am comfortable with.   But when a storm blows in and I am in uncharted territory, so to speak, how thankful am I then?  That is the true measure of our faith.

In everything give thanks….I challenge you to try it and then share your experience here with others to be encouraged by.