Give Thanks in Everything?????

“Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  1 Thess. 5:18 (CEB)

Do you find yourself in the age group where you are discussing your latest doctor’s visit or new medicines with your friends when you are together?  Brooks and I laugh because we are friends with a couple that, like us are a little older now, and every time we get together our ailments along with doctor appointments and changes in or addition of medicine is the topic for the first half – hour we are talking.

Recently, as I waited, yes, in the doctor’s office, to get injections in my knees an acquaintance of mine came in.  As she sat down she asked me if the last time we ran into one another was in the doctor’s office.  I laughed and replied I wasn’t certain, but it was definitely a possibility. 

I did not get a comic retort as I expected.  Instead, she went on to tell me that in recent months she had begun to thank the Lord for her body’s condition….more correctly, the breakdown of her body.  She is probably close to ten years older than me, so perhaps there is more going on with her than is apparent to the naked eye.  The key here is that she is THANKING Him for the snap, crackle and pop of her joints, the weakening of the body as she described it.

Taken by surprise as I was, I just waited for her to explain.  Her thought is this….as our bodies breakdown and get weaker that is just putting us closer and closer to heaven and seeing our Lord face to face.  Does her statement cause you pause as it did me?  As a Christian, I do want to meet my Saviour in heaven one day, but I had never considered thanking Him for my “breakdown” as she put it.  She is truly giving thanks in the situation.

I have thought and thought about what she relayed to me that day and I am trying to do as she is – as a human being it goes against our nature to wish for anything other than good health and well-being.  As a Christian we should be ready and excited to arrive in heaven for our eternity.

In closing, think about this statement and maybe incorporate it into your prayer time as my friend has done.

Start with your hands on your head and work your way down, placing your hands on each body part as you thank God for each piece of you, just as he created it and just as it is now.  For each achy joint, for the breakdown that is bringing us step by step closer to Jesus.