In Everything Give Thanks

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  1 Thess. 5: 18

 For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for YOU.  We’re perplexed at the thought that something as terrible as a disease or ____________ (fill in the blank) is what God wills for us.  The message of my entire blogging/writing career has been a message of preparation.  To hear more about preparation and training I invite you to read some of my Wilderness posts.

Suffering is so very personal.  Nobody reacts to suffering the same way or responds to it on the same time frame.  Today I want to share something I am incredibly thankful for.  I thank God for my power wheelchair every time I use it… and I use it for everything!! Because of self-righteous pride and a very shallow view of things, sitting in a wheelchair is something I used to view as a weakness. Wow, my overinflated ego was a huge stumbling block that prevented me from seeing things the way they really are.  Someone once told me ego stands for Edge God Out!   I’d like to share what I’ve written about this in my memoir with you…

My husband and I were in the Atlanta airport.  I was in a wheelchair.  An airport is too much walking for me.  I had interpreted that by the look on his face, the airport employee pushing me thought I was a burden; seeming as though he had better things to do.  Consequently, I was embarrassed about my physical situation, and resented the fact that I was in a wheelchair.  Oh, I so resented that wheelchair!  What I remember is being pushed into the elevator with this huge chip on my shoulder. I heard God speak to my spirit.  He said, “You should be glad you have a wheelchair, otherwise you wouldn’t get around.”

The attendant may have still resented having to push me around, but God spoke truth, and turned my whole attitude around.  I remember being pushed out of the elevator a person with a brand new demeanor.  I was truly grateful for that wheelchair.  Unfortunately, the world is full of insensitive people (I used to be one of them), and the attitude they have towards disabled people will be here until Jesus comes again to reign.  I recently heard the testimony of an abortion survivor who, as a result of lack of oxygen to her brain had Cerebral Palsy.  What she said was so profound, it will always play over and over in my mind.  She said, “You need the weak among you.  You will learn things that can only be taught by the weakest of society.”  My response to that is amen, and amen!

That shallow girl is long gone.  Anyway… to me… my chair is the best thing since sliced bread!  I am now able to do things I haven’t done in years because every step I took fatigued the heck out of me to where all I wanted to do was get off my feet!  God has made me appreciate the little things most of us take for granted.  Just something like putting  towels orderly away in a closet (still folded, I might add) makes me raise my voice in praise to Jesus!  Before having my power chair, I would attempt… and I mean attempt… for an orderly closet, but I would always end up just throwing things together to avoid losing my balance (even with a walker) and falling.  That’s just one example of the things I can do again.  God is in the restoration business.  I know that the best is yet to come.  Here are a few verses that are on my heart from the book of Job…

“All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes.”  Job 14: 14

“Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.”  Job 42: 12

Yes, this has truly been a blessing in the storm