It is Thanksgiving time.
Sometimes it is so easy to list of all of the things for which we are thankful.
We often list the obvious:
- home
- family
- food
- vehicles
- health
The list could go on and on with all of the "things" we have in our lives. Do not get me wrong - all of those things should definitely cause us to be thankful.
But what about if the Lord doesn't give us certain things?
What if our health fails?
What if things do not work out they way we think?
I have continued to study the book of Philippians in my quiet time with the Lord. We began this study in Sunday School and the Lord led me to go further in it on my own.
Sometimes when we hear a familiar Bible story, we take for granted all of the little nuggets of God's truth that are in it.
My study in Philippians actually began in Acts 16 with understanding about the city of Philippi and how Paul and Silas ministered there. I have always loved teaching my students from Acts 16. It has always been encouraging to me to see how Paul and Silas were imprisoned unfairly and yet they chose to worship the Lord in jail.
As I have studied more closely, the Lord deepened my understanding of just how badly Paul and Silas had been treated. Not only were they in a horrible jail without true cause, but they had been beaten. I cannot imagine how they must have felt and how bad the conditions would have been.
However, God's Word records how Paul and Silas chose to praise the Lord and sing to Him at midnight in the darkest prison cell. While in that cell they were able to share their faith in the dark where others could hear their praise even though they could not see them.
In Paul's writing in Philippians, he speaks so much about joy. He writes all of this to the Philippians while being in jail - again. Philippians 2:13-16a has become a section of Scripture I have been meditating on as of late:
for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
holding fast to the word of life,
Do all things without grumbling or disputing?
ALL things?
Even if the Lord doesn't work things out in the way YOU wanted - and you are walking this life "in the dark"?
Paul could write those words with confidence because he had lived them. He had seen how the impact of their choice to praise the Lord at a very dark time brought many to Christ in Philippi. Even none of the other prisoners left the prison when the Lord sent the earthquake! I wonder if those prisoners were in awe of Paul and Silas for their true faith and thanksgiving during such a hard time?
Are you praising the Lord in the darkness as Paul and Silas did in that jail cell?
I have been asking myself all of these questions. As I have pondered God's Word I have begun to see where I need more of the "singing at midnight" and less of my own grumblings. I must see all things as an opportunity to show praise to the One who works in me for His pleasure.
We all have times of "darkness" in our lives. There are times we do not understand what the Lord is doing or why He has placed us in a particular situation. God always has a purpose as He sees what we do not.
When we choose to praise the Lord in the hard "midnight" times of our lives we actually become brighter lights for Him.
