Fear or Faith... Is it a Choice?

Has someone ever said to you when you are going through hardship and suffering… "Just be thankful?"

No empathy. No, I'm sorry you are going through this. Just the words, be thankful.

I had this happen to me recently. I shared just a tidbit of the financial stress are business is under due to our changing world—and how we could lose everything, our home included. Her words felt cold and distant, and truthfully, it rankled.

However, they were not wrong.

Sometimes, in the frailty of humanity, we do not receive the compassionate response we need. Especially from someone sitting in their large home, who can easily pay every bill, go on trips, retire in comfort… and who appear to have the blessing of God, not the suffering.

To be honest, envy can easily rise, and I must beat it down with the truth of Scripture. Neither Jesus nor the apostles lived in luxury, attributing wealth directly to how pleased God was with them. No, they lived in poverty. They were beaten, imprisoned, went hungry, shipwrecked, stoned, cold and thirsty. Read Paul's account in 2 Corinthians 11:22-33. Historic accounts also denote that most of the apostles died a martyr's death. Yet they felt blessed to be included in the suffering of Christ. The likes of which I know little.

However, I am 64 years old. I came from nothing, worked hard all my life, and am still working full time. The thought of entering my twilight years with no home, and no earthly possessions is not a comforting one.

But isn't God always on time?

In my grappling after this incident, I opened my Bible to Psalm 107. Five times it instructs us to "give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"

Interwoven in this repeated call to give thanks are five different examples—not of great times in life, but of hard ones.

• Give thanks when… wandering in the desert, hungry, thirsty, pursued by enemies that only God can redeem you from.
• Give thanks when… you are longing and hungry for spiritual food to the soul, sitting in darkness. God can and will break the chains, if we, but ask.
• Give thanks when… you are in trouble, distressed, in need of healing.
• Give thanks when… you are in the midst of a traumatic storm where the waves of the sea (this life) mount up to the heavens, then crash to the depths. God not only can calm the storm, but He can bring us into, as verse thirty says, "our desired haven." I love that!
• Give thanks when… the wilderness needs to be turned into pools of cleansing water, when the dry land needs to become springs. When you need a time of peace in your life. He can bless and multiply in the physical, but more importantly in the spiritual, making our families like a gathered flock where sin no longer has a hold.

And after all these examples of horrendous suffering, and the reminder to give thanks—to have a heart of gratitude for the awesome God we serve, He says:

"Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord."

Wow, now that was a reminder to give thanks…but in a whole new way. Because God is not asleep. He sees. He cares. He is able, as this chapter reminded me, to do the impossible.

• V2 Redeem us
• V2 Deliver us from the enemy
• V6 Deliver us out of distress
• V9 Satisfy the soul, and attend to the spiritual, filling the emptiness of soul
• V14 Bring us out of darkness, depression, and break all chains (fear, sin, pain, need for revenge, etc.)
• V18 Heal anorexia
• V20 Heal every measure of sorrow, whether physical, emotional, spiritual
• V23-28 Protect us in the storm, metaphorically or physically
• V30 Give calm. Offer a safe haven. Give peace.
• V33-40 God is all powerful, in charge of each country, each leader, each home. And V42— the righteous see this and rejoice.

And that last verse... I will quote it again:

"Whoever is wise will observe these things..."