In Everything Give Thanks

One of my favorite verses from the Apostle Paul is found in I Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."  I am often reminded of a testimony given by Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie, as they struggled to survive in the Nazi concentration camps.  One day, as they were holding a Bible study in the barracks, Corrie tells that Betsie began to thank God for the flea infestation.  Corrie thought her sister had finally lost it.  But later they discovered that the fleas kept the guards out of the barracks and they were able to hold their Bible studies because of this.


I have mentioned that my career entails managing a memory care unit for seniors living with Alzheimer's disease.  It is often stressful, especially when families don't understand why their loved ones act in the manner they act or misplace things (sometimes permanently). 


One day, I had to have a difficult meeting with a family and I dreaded to talk to them about how their loved one had declined and would be needing to move to another area of the facility.  I was so nervous about that meeting, until I got to work that morning.  As I sat my things down, the staff informed me that one of the resident's hearing aide was missing.  This was a replacement to a previous hearing aide that had been lost.  Needless to say, I frantically searched the entire unit - no success.


Just before the meeting, I called the resident's loved one to inform them of the hearing aide. I could hear the disappointment in their voice, but also a twinge of understanding.  I went to the meeting - that I had forgotten to dread. It went smoothly and without a hitch.  After the meeting, a staff brought me the missing hearing aide. God had worked it in such a way that my mind was taken off one thing that I dreaded so entirely much. He then came through and worked it out on the other end, as well.


Sometimes, we don't see what His purposes are, but we know He is behind the scenes.  We walk by faith, not by sight.