A Testimony of Thankfulness

This week my church had a testimony service on Tuesday night instead of our normal mid week service. To hear all that people were thankful for was a blessing, but one testimony stuck out in my mind. I would like to share this testimony with you on this Thanksgiving Day.

Brother Eddie Witt mentioned in his testimony that he had spoken to a missionary friend of his in Africa. This missionary had told him that in the village he was in it has not rained in a year. These people are drying up, withering away because of the lack of rain and water. Mothers are unable to produce milk to feed their babies and their skin looks like potato chips.

These Africa people mentioned to the missionary that they believe when a person dies they get to go to America. In their mind America is heaven. They say that in America you can find more food in any garbage can than they have to eat. In America you can find better clothes in a garbage can than they have to wear. They dream of America because in America people actually put furniture on the side of the road to throw it away. Their heaven is the things that you and I consider trash.

I can’t get this off of my mind. I have been so blessed, and don’t even realize it. In the midst of what we call hard times we lose sight of the many blessings that God pours out to us every day. So, with that said, I would like to tell you some things that I am thankful for.

• I am thankful for my family. God has blessed me with wife. I have a beautiful wife that loves me and cares for me. I have two healthy children. They can be rotten sometimes but they are a blessing in my life.
• I am thankful for my church. God has surrounded me with a group of people that love God and have a desire to serve Him.
• I am thankful for my job. Many of Americans have found themselves without work this year, but I still have a job to go to.
• I am thankful for my parents. My parents have been raising me for 32 years now. I can’t tell you how much they mean to me, how much they have done for my family.
• I am thankful for my wife’s parents. Many of you are not able to enjoy the company of your in-laws, but I can. They are a blessing in my life.
• I am thankful most of all for my salvation. Almost two thousand years ago God wrapped Himself in flesh, came to this earth, and died for my sins.

I could go on and on. I have health, happiness, a home and there is not a day I go hungry. God has been good to me. How about you?

Don’t mistake your suffering for sin!

 This blog will go against the teachings of many preachers and churches, but the Bible is clear on this matter. Many times people assume that if a person has suffering or hardships in their life that means they must also have sin in their life. While it is true that we are warned in the scriptures not to suffer as an evil doer, it is also clear that many suffer while being in the perfect will of God.

In fact, sometimes the greatest blessings you can experience in your walk with Christ is the blessing of suffering. Throughout the pages of the scriptures we read instances of people who suffered, and their suffering resulted in blessings.

The lion that tried to kill Samson later feed him. A sick daughter brought Jarius to Jesus. Drought and depression brought Elijah to Mount Carmel. There was a flood in Noah’s life before there was a rainbow. Joseph suffered slavery and imprisonment before he saved the lives of millions of people. Jesus suffered the death of Calvary so that you and I can be saved. In fact the scriptures say that it was for the “joy that was set before Him” that He endured the cross.

I could tell you stories of Daniel in the lion’s den, the three Hebrew children in the furnace of fire, Paul’s beatings and ship wreck, Peter’s imprisonment, John’s exile on Patmos and the list goes on and on. All of these suffered, but they soon discovered that their suffering was actually a blessing in their life. Jesus promised you and me that if we are going to reign with Him we must first suffer with Him. You will learn more about God in the valley than you will on the mountain top.

I recently taught for a week at Valley View Baptist church in Knoxville. During the week I taught on “From Despair to Deliverance, The Story of Esther.” It amazed me that after I taught these lessons on despair many of the people shared with me how that God had blessed them during the lowest times of their lives.

A man may stand up and tell people “if you get saved all of your problems will just go away.” That’s sounds wonderful, and these men will get many followers. It takes a true man of God however to stand up and tell people the truth that Christians may suffer while following Jesus. Jesus made it very clear that if a person wanted to “reign” with Him they must first “suffer” with Him.

If you are suffering today, and you know that you are right with God, please know that God has allowed those hardships into your life for a reason. The thing that is threatening your life today will be a blessing to you one day. God will teach you more about Himself, and how to trust Him during this time than any other time in your life. God will make your trial a blessing.