Friday, February 7, 2025

Thankful for What - Martin Wiles

thankful for what
We praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. Ephesians 1:6 NLT

Complaints and questions rolled off my tongue like water cascading over a waterfall.

Wasn’t I working a full-time job? Wasn’t I taking every opportunity that presented itself to make extra money? Wasn’t my wife doing all she could to sell items on Facebook? Why, then, was the freezer empty and our cupboard bare? Why was the bank account sitting on empty, just like the gas needle in our car? Why did I have to worry about whether our insurance company would cancel our renter’s insurance?

“I put a little surprise in your car,” a church member and friend whispered. When I looked in the bag after church, I discovered several things we were out of. Since we hadn’t shared this information with her, I figured God must have.

“She also gave us this card,” my wife whispered. I slithered my finger under the flap and removed the card. After reading the outside, I opened it to peruse the inside, but first, I had to remove the fifty-dollar bill. There was the remainder of what we needed to pay our renter’s insurance. 

The above episode was topped by another the next day. As my wife checked our bank account balance to ensure we still had the same four dollars we had the last time she checked, she discovered a twenty-dollar deposit had been made. Calling the bank to check on this mysterious deposit, my wife was informed she had made the deposit. But she hadn’t. Now we could gas up the car.

Suddenly, my complaints seemed selfish. I had forgotten I served a big God. Paul reminded first-century believers of the same.

God’s kindness is worth thanking Him for. He has poured out His love through the sacrifice of His Son. We can have all the earthly goods we desire and never have to worry about some of the above things I’ve mentioned, but if our sins remain, our account is still in the negative. God offers freedom from the debt we owe for our sins if we simply ask for forgiveness. Along with forgiveness, He gives wisdom and understanding so we can make sense out of life. And even when it appears senseless, we can thank Him because we know He understands it when we don’t.

Think of things to thank God for rather than complain about.

Father, I thank You for the many gifts You give me, but most of all for allowing Your Son to pay my sin debt. 


I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on FacebookTwitter, and Linkedin.

No comments:

Post a Comment