My oldest son's wife was pregnant. Sadly, he called me one afternoon at work to report she had just been to the doctor and they were unable to locate a heartbeat. He said the baby would either be expelled or absorbed into its mother's body. I visited the couple on my way home from work. She was weeping in an embryonic position on the couch. He was sitting on the patio and muttered, almost inaudibly, “I really wanted this baby, dad.”
Over the years, on quite a few occasions, after praying with an individual, their first comment has been, “I've never heard anyone give thanks for a bad situation like this!”
So it was on that day.
Upon my return home from my son's house, I plopped down in my lawn chair beneath a tree . I began considering a few verses such as 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “Give thanks at all times” and Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always again I say: Rejoice!” I pondered such verses as Romans 8:28: “... all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” and was reminded that “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil,” (Matthew 4:1).
I began giving thanks to God. “Father, thank you for taking that unborn child because he's with you and I'll meet him one day. Life on planet Earth is not “it” for us; thank you for reminding me death is a major part of life... thank you that my son has an addictive nature because that will allow him to, one day, become addicted to Jesus...”
I went on and on, thanking God for even the most ridiculous things. I did so until I began to laugh out loud!
I started to wonder what Satan does when a Christian – one upon whose life he has unleashed a demonic assignment to kill, steal and destroy something – continually praises God in the midst of life's darkest moments. It must drive him mad! What's a devil to do with people who thank God for the struggle?
I think it was Conan the Barbarian who said, “What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.” Maybe not. Any way, it's true no matter who uttered the phrase.
If Jesus Himself was lead by the Holy Spirit into the desert to be tempted (tested) by the devil, why not me?
If I pray, “Lord, I wanna be just like you,” am I referring only to miracles, healing, walking on water, or shall I include the cruel torture of the cross? The plucking of my beard? The revealing of my nakedness before jeering, spitting throngs? The betrayal of dear friends?
I
find it interesting that we thank God for testimonies but despise the tests.
We hate Satan with a vengeance, forgetting his ministry to The Church that Forces us into a more Christ-like existence.
We forget Satan and God have in common that same desire to kill us (Selah).
Since that time, I have ministered this truth to many others, often with the same results: laughter in the midst of disaster.
By the way, my son called me the very next day, exclaiming, “Dad, they found a heart beat!”
That baby – my grandson, Jace – just turned six. He's “all boy” and an incredible blessing to anyone who knows him.
Take that, devil!
Every blessing,
Michael Tummillo
Founder of The Church @ Work (TCAW)
http://web.me.com/miketummillo/Site_134
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Smiling under storm, laughing amidst weeping and deciding to be thankful to God in difficult trying times is a mega treat for the devil. God bless you for sharing this testimony with us. I am encouraged to keep thanking Him come what may.
I great testimony to the scripture that tells us to thank God IN everything, not for everything. We praise HIM and Thank HIM IN everything because of who HE is rather than our circumstances. Circumstances change as you have testified to. Thank you so much for sharing this. GOD BLESS YOU
