My dad has a sermon that he preaches on 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” The key point in his sermon is that while we aren’t always thankful for everything we can be thankful in everything. He typically then shares a personal example of the time he was involved in a car wreck after dropping off my lunch at school that I had forgotten that morning.
I was in 5th grade and it was my birthday that day. I guess the excitement of turning 11 was too much for me that I forgot my lunch. So when my dad got home from dropping my brother and I off he was informed by my mom that I didn’t have my lunch. Since we lived a few miles from school he got back in the car and brought it to me. After dropping it off, he was sitting at a red light when the back of our minivan was hit by the car behind him in reaction to being hit by the person behind her. Thankfully, Dad walked away with whiplash while the woman behind him was less fortunate. I can still remember seeing my parents pull up in the car line in a different car with my mom driving … a dead giveaway that something was wrong! 🙂 When my brother and I climbed into the car they told us what had happened. I felt so guilty. It was my fault. And for years after whenever he would share the story I would tear up from the guilt of it not paying attention to his point.
He didn’t share the story to make me feel bad. He knew that this was a part of life. Bad things, unfortunate things happen. This was an unfortunate thing that had happened. So while he wasn’t thankful for the wreck he was thankful that he was able to walk away from it, that we had car insurance to cover the costs and that my little sister wasn’t riding in the van that day. If she had been she would have more than likely been injured and would probably be more goofy than she is now! 😉
Tuesday night as I headed to bed I thought about what I had shared on my previous post … “Today, I am going to relish in His presence and return it by being fully present in my praise no matter what I face.” I knew going to bed that I probably had set myself up for some testing. Within a mile from my home yesterday morning, I was rear ended on the interstate while headed to work. I was almost to a complete stop due to traffic stopping in front of me when I was hit. This was my first wreck. The young woman who hit me and myself pulled over into the emergency lane to wait for the police to arrive. As I sat there checking in with my boss, family members and friends, I was ready to shed a tear or two. This was not how I wanted to start my Wednesday. I needed to be at work. I didn’t feel well as I immediately had a headache explode in my head and my neck was sore. At that moment this appeared …
I took a deep breath and thanked the Lord that no one was seriously hurt. I thanked Him for His reminder of His presence and promise. I had a rare opportunity yesterday morning sitting on the side of the interstate to watch the rainbow peek in out of the clouds before it was covered once again by the rain. Yet when it came time for me to pull back into the traffic there it was constantly before me just like the Lord. I never even realized there was a double rainbow until I looked at my pictures later in the day.
There are times where the Lord’s presence is so bright and vibrant before me that it spills over and I am simply satisfied to dwell in the residual even though I am offered the joy of being fully in His presence. Why do I chose the duller colors of His presence? Is it because I am afraid of what His radiance will reveal in my life? Absolutely, yes. Also, maybe like Moses, we can only handle a smaller portion of His glory. To be bathed in His full vibrancy might be the death of us so He gives us the remnant to dwell in. Yet, even there we aren’t satisfied because there are moments in our lives when fail to recognize His presence at all or we doubt He is even there. However, when the clouds of our storms pass we see Him there and understand that He has never left us nor forsake us. He is who He says He is. We are not.
So while filing insurance claims, being stiff and sore is not on the top of my list of things to be thankful for I can be thankful for the reminder that in this situation He showed me that He is always before me even when I cannot see Him.
I love you all.
Blessings …
– Melody Faith
Joyful on the Journey 