A single mom tells her young son "Not this weekend honey, we have a lot of stuff to do." The son stomps away and goes to his room angry with his mom that she won't let him visit with his Dad.
What the boy doesn't know is that the Dad (once again) has chosen to go drinking with his friends and has forgotten all about it being his weekend. In an effort to protect the image he has of his Dad - the man he looks up to and wants to be when he grows up - she makes yet another excuse and prays that one day he will get his life together and be a part of his sons life.
Two teenage girls, best friends, get excited about entering an upcoming talent show. Just a few days before the show, the one friend says "I'm not sure we should go thru with this. Maybe we should do it next year when we've had more time to practice." The other girl starts crying and accuses her friend of being jealous. As she's running away she yells "I thought you were supposed to be my best friend!"
What the girl doesn't know is that her friend heard a group of kids talking about how they were going ridicule her on stage and make fun of her the rest of the year. In an effort to protect her friend she thought the best way to handle it was to talk her out of it. She would rather have her best friend be mad at her for a little bit than to carry that scar around for a lifetime.
The bible says:
"I know the plans I have for you - plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future"
Much like the stories above, I wonder how many times God has done something in our lives to protect us and we've responded with anger, a tantrum, or ungratefulness? A traffic jam, not getting the promotion we wanted, being late to work, etc. What if those were all various ways that God was somehow protecting us that day?
Until we get to Heaven, we will never fully understand God's plan for us and why our lives are laid out the way they are. In the meantime though, He leaves us with a very simple (3) step process to help us live life to the fullest...
- Be joyful always
- Pray continually
- Give thanks in ALL circumstances
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
So the next time something happens to you that isn't exactly what you wanted, instead of being frustrated try taking a minute to say "Thank you God - I'm not sure why I'm thanking you, but YOU know why and that's all that matters"
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