Thankfulness

    Has anything BIG happened in your life recently? Anything HUGE in the works? Are “The Stars’ lining up for you?  Are you waiting for something GRAND to transpire so you can thank God? Multitudes are waiting for BIG DREAMS to be fulfilled so they can give God a small portion of thanks and credit.  Some, spend months and years gambling for that CHUNK of cash from a Lottery win to roll in.  They’ll buy the large house, a yacht, fishing gear, a small plane, and other goodies that’ll reflect their newfound status. Have you ever considered the regular things taking place in your life?  What of the small ones happening every day?  Have you considered the teeny-tiny ones?  God is manifested and glorified in the ‘insignificant’ occurrences befalling us.

   Ours is a world similar to that of Bluto and Popeye in one particular cartoon where each performs a particular achievement and sings to the other, “Whatever you can do, I can do better.”  It’s interesting that the natural man will always try to outdo his fellow man in just about everything except in giving financially to a good cause.  It all comes down to wanting to be the best, desiring to do more, etc.  God is unimpressed.

While living in New York, we experienced many ‘small, insignificant’ moments in our lives.  There were times when our old station wagon would turn off on its own as we drove.  How did we keep it going? We sang Christian songs! We sang together especially when we reached traffic lights and had to wait for them to change.  For those of us doubting, if we stopped singing, the wagon would turn off.  We learned to sing all the way home.  Some people would see that as something small-not worth mentioning.  But God was there and we knew it!

Another time here, in Puerto Rico, my wife was driving another station wagon (hmm..) down a narrow two-way road when she noticed her breaks were not working.  The line had broke and she was skidding on the brake fluid. She was passing a mound of dirt on one side of the car and a body of water on the other side.  She reasoned, “If I hit the mound I’ll get killed and if I go into the water, I’m going down.”  She prayed for God to help her.  She saw a huge tree up ahead so she went for it.  The passenger door was wrapped around it and one could see the tree-shape on it.  Whew, that was close! But it was only the first part of her experience.  She needed to get home up to the mountains…she got back in & drove about two miles to the end of the road to where our mechanic’s shop was located.  She prayed the entire way that she’d be able to stop when she’d reach the busy intersection.  Upon reaching it, with no cars approaching, she turned right and the car turned off right there as she parked.  She couldn’t believe it and could hardly speak.  God had performed another regular event in her life.  No, there were no TV cameras around.  No one was there to congratulate her or to present her with an achievement award or a huge multi-million-dollar check.  If she was jumping up and down like Yosemite Sam saying “Unga bonga bunga” it wasn’t from winning anything; she wasn’t asking God for another station wagon (third time’s a charm), rather, she couldn’t believe how God had watched over her.

This week, whether you’ve won the Lottery, experienced something EXTRAORDINARY or just want to recall one, or several minor life-changing events in your life, DON”T forget to thank the MAGNIFICENT God who makes all things work out for our good.

God Bless!

Sam