Be grateful for what is NOT

All my life I've heard the saying, "Be grateful, it could have been worse."  That never sounded quite right to me. Why? Because a lot of times worse was compared to something horrific that happened to someone else. There is no comfort in someone else's pain. 

I literally had a Dr tell me once, "Be grateful that you re not a child going through cancer!"WHAT???? So, I have to "one up" my praise because I'm not a suffering child? If you're a parent let me ask you this....is it more painful for you to be ill or for you to watch your child suffer?

I can be grateful for what I'm not suffering anymore. I'm grateful that it's not 17 years ago when I was given a death sentence of 6 months. I'm grateful that it's not 10 years ago when I was told I may never walk again. I'm grateful for things I have discovered were lies that I thought was truth. I bet I got you on that one!

Have you ever known down in your heart that something just wasn't right, but you couldn't figure it out to save your life?

I'm grateful it's not yesterday.. I'm grateful that it's not a month ago when I could barely get out of bed because of back pain. There is so much to be grateful for!

Pastor Craig at Life.Church.org talked about Praise in the midst of horror. I've heard that before, haven't you?. "Praise God and things will get better!" Do they? Do they get better right away

Sometimes better looks a whole lot different from this side of the pain than it does when it's in the oncoming traffic of your life. I am grateful that when I my car ran into a house and knocked the foundation off of that house that a few months later, I was walking again. That a few months later, I was playing the piano at church, even having to be wheeled on and off the platform in the dark.

My right foot (aka my pedal to the medal foot) was shattered.. I couldn't play the piano with my right foot in a huge cast and pins holding it together, But what I could do? I could sit crooked and use my left foot! Hey, I'm a can do person.

When they told me I couldn't go home because I couldn't walk up steps and I couldn't see my dog because I couldn't walk. I could thank God ( though not easily) that once again He had snatched me out of the jaws of death! One more time I could sing "He is Risen, Hallelujah!"

Take a minute today and thank God from the perspective of what "IS NOT".  Are you breathing? Then , thank God that you are not dead. Are people you love not born again yet? Are they still breathing? Thank God for that!

I thank God that I'm no longer in college! WOW! That was hard. I'm also grateful that He got me through it.

In perspective let's look at Paul and Silas: They were in chains and broken and battered and they were a little nuts. Why? Who sings at the darkest part of the night when they are bound in chains to Roman soldiers who have the power (or so they thought) of life or death in their hands?

How could Paul write about giving thanks to God at all times? Well, back when he was in prison at midnight, while he was praising God...the prison flew open and they got to present the Gospel of Christ to a group of people who got the chance to believe. They preached to a guard on the verge of suicide. They ministered to people who were supposed to die. They didn't take advantage of the situation and run (I would have). Nope, they stayed there to see what God wanted next.

When Paul was in Rome and penned the words of being grateful, he was strapped to prison guards 24 hours a day in a jail cell. It was not home. It was not comfortable. How crazy is it to tell people who are not in jail to Praise God in all things when you are sitting in a prison?

Look back, just for a moment. When Paul sang songs to the Lord the prison was shaken. It could happen again? Did it? No. Instead of Paul preaching the gospel into the whole world the whole world was watching him. Perspective: Those guards that held him chained 24 hours a day heard about Jesus for most of those hours. The prisoners in jail with him heard the gospel of Jesus all day and all night long. Who was being held captive? Who had the audience that he never could have gathered together on his own? Paul. He had all of Rome's attention. He didn't say, "Well it could be worse.." Why? Because it could actually have been worse. But he had one more day to tell them about a Jesus that he personally met, more than that he told them about a Jesus that he once vehemently opposed.

Now, I'm not going to delude you and say that everything comes up roses after this...it didn't and it may not. It didn't for Paul. But he knew there was purpose in his pain, purpose in the chains. He was not the prisoner, he had a captive audience of the elite in Rome? WOW! Isn't that amazing.

Be thankful for what was no longer exists in your life. You may have scars, as I do. You're heart may have been shattered into a million pieces,but that's not right now.

If it is right now, let me pray for you. "Jesus, I come to you because you are real! There is no doubt in my mind/ heart or soul. If it is raining down hell on whoever is reading this, give them hope. Hope that you love them just as much today as you did before this happened and you'll love them the same after they get through this.. Nothing in life stays the same. I join with them in being truly grateful for what is not...even in the midst of what is.... In Jesus name!"