Fortunate Events

On By The Quiet RoarerIn Faith and Life

There were a series of fortunate events that happened at our house a few weeks ago.

Firstly, I glanced down before stepping outside.

Secondly, our two dogs (meet Max and Willow) were out on a walk with my daughter.

Thirdly, our snake catching neighbour was home and kindly “relocated” the baby brown snake which had decided our back door step was a good place to hang out! 😳

(For the readers unfamiliar with Australian snakes, Eastern Browns are the world’s second deadliest. Even a baby is highly venomous.)

I thanked God for His loving care that afternoon.

I’m sure we’ve all had instances where we realise things could have turned out differently and it’s easy to thank God in those moments!

But what about when things land on our doorstep so to speak and the outcome isn’t so great? In those moments we tend to cry out WHY??? (see my blog Wrestling with Why)

1 Thes 16-18 is a difficult verse to put into practice. The “always”, “without ceasing”, and “in all circumstances” parts really challenge the flesh and I’m the first to admit my flesh wins a lot more than I like! But there’s an important little word in there. (emphasis mine): “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

We aren’t told to give thanks for all circumstances! We are told to give thanks in them.

And the reason? Because if we trust Jesus, then He is with us in every circumstance, even when the things that land on our doorstep aren’t what we were expecting.

©2022 Quietly Roaring. All Rights Reserved.

11 thoughts on “Fortunate Events”

  1. I never realized how this verse is worded to say we aren’t thankful for the circumstances but thankful in them. Why? Because God is always in charge. As long as we seek Him we are safe—even if in a worldly sense we are not. Great insights, Jo! Thank you, and God Bless.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  3. I am so thankful the Holy Spirit helps us to be thankful in all things! I am thankful that we don’t have to live in our own strength. I am so thankful that God protected you and your family (cute doggies included!) from the snake!!! Thanks for sharing this, Jo!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. Tears came to my eyes when I read your closing line- “if we trust Jesus, then He is with us in every circumstance, even when the things that land on our doorstep aren’t what we were expecting.” When I finished reading, I found myself humming the tune to “Blessed Assurance.” Thank you Jo for sharing this experience and for the exhortation to praise Him when the things that land on our doorstep don’t turn out so great. (On another note, Max and Willow are absolutely beautiful!)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hi Beth, my sincere apologies but somehow your comment ended up in my spam and I’ve only just seen and retrieved it! I’m so glad this post spoke to you. As a fellow dog lover, yes…Max and Willow are very loveable. (Willow is the lab). I’m going to search for Blessed Assurance now, as I’m not familiar with that song (although I might know it once I hear it). Bless you Beth!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. “We aren’t told to give thanks for all circumstances! We are told to give thanks in them.” So true! Great words. Over my several years of life I’ve had so many life events that make me wonder how I can be thankful for them. It’s only when I stop and realize that really, I need to just be thankful for God’s presence with me in these tough times, not for the actual tough times. Because His presence is so precious and powerful.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s