Psalm 111:1-9 (ESV)
Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the
company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight
in them.
Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his
righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; for the
Lord is gracious and merciful.
He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his
covenant forever.
He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them
the inheritance of the nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his
precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever to be performed
with faithfulness and uprightness.
He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his
covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!
A
few weeks ago a missionary and pastor named Tom Randall, was arrested in the
Philippine Islands and thrown into prison on false charges.
Tom
happens to be a good friend of my brother’s and had just been hired to join the pastoral staff
at my brother’s
church. I had the privilege of getting to Tom way back in 1982 as we played
together on a Sports Ambassadors basketball team that traveled to China.
As
I watched Tom’s ordeal
from a distance, seeing daily updates on Facebook and twitter from my brother,
I saw two seemingly contradictory things happening at once. On the one hand
there was undeserved suffering. Tom had been falsely accused so even though he
had done nothing wrong he had to spend almost 3 weeks in a dirty and very
dangerous jail. He was so dehydrated and sick that he actually lost
consciousness on several occasions and his life was at risk. On the other hand,
Tom repeatedly expressed his thanksgiving and praise to God for allowing him
the privilege of sharing the gospel with the men with whom he was incarcerated.
What
kind of person thanks God for being in prison? The kind of person like Tom
Randall, who believes what the Apostle Paul wrote:
1
Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be
joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is
God’s
will for you in Christ Jesus.
Remember
that Paul was a man who understood suffering and persecution. He was writing to
people who were being abused and ridiculed for their faith in Christ. Yet he
says, “Give thanks in all circumstances.”
This
is a hard one.
Hardly
a week goes by that I don’t hear of a person or a family in our church going
through some painful or extremely difficult journey. It might be cancer; or the
loss of a loved one; or extended unemployment.
And
we pray every week for God’s care, deliverance and healing for all of them.
But
Paul encourages us to also give thanks in those situations.
I
think what he means is that God is in every circumstance and is sovereign over
every circumstance, and can work through every circumstance. Perhaps his work
will be healing; perhaps it will be deliverance; perhaps his work will be
developing perseverance and maturity; perhaps his work will be to build the
church or enhance his own glory. In Tom’s situation God eventually delivered him from prison
and he is home now. Several men became followers of Christ in that prison cell;
the faith of all those who prayed for him was built up; the church was
strengthened and God was glorified. But sometimes we can’t see at all what God is up to, we can only trust that
he is doing something good and so we are to be thankful.
So,
are you currently facing a circumstance in which you struggle to find anything
good? Ask God to show you what he might be doing in and through your
circumstance, and find some way to express thanksgiving; perhaps not for
your circumstance, but rather in your circumstances.
Pastor
Brian Coffey
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