These
things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng. (Psalm 42:4)
There
are times in anyone's life when one feels good and thankful, when shouting for
joy comes naturally. When one is starting something new, there is often a
"honeymoon" phase. How long this lasts differs from person to person,
but for most of us, it ends too soon. It happens in our spiritual life just
like any other part of our lives. We may not find ourselves in a crisis of
faith, but going to church becomes a humdrum duty. We know we should be
thankful, and we are, sort of - the way a child feels when he/she is given
plain black socks for Christmas. "Thanks, Gramma."
It's even harder to be
thankful when there is a crisis, when we go to our Father - again, and again,
and again, and nothing changes. Corrie TenBoom told of her sister's
thankfulness in all things, even in a German concentration camp. The bunks they
had to sleep in were infested with lice and fleas, and Corrie could not see how
she could thank God for those. Over time, she noticed that the German guards
didn't enter the bunk areas. She realized that the fleas and lice were
protecting the women from unwanted attention, allowing them freedom to worship
and to read the Bible they had smuggled into camp without interference.
Sometimes,
the things that seem to get in the way of our thanksgiving can become reasons
for thanksgiving. Sometimes, we need to remember how we used to give thanks and
praise. Remembering can stir us to renewed vigor and cause us to be more
careful about things that get in our way. Remembering can also give us hope,
because what was can be again. Thirdly, remembering may lead us to a greater
understanding. Those things that we were thankful for may be lesser things, and
the time has come to seek for, and be thankful for greater.
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