Last week my husband and I both underwent a routine medical screening test that involved our eating a restricted diet for 5 days. (We did it at the same time so as to minimize the meal-planning inconvenience.) We both found the restricted diet very annoying: we could still eat full meals, but we couldn't always have everything that we liked, and we had to postpone our regular Friday night pizza because we couldn't have some of the ingredients. Can you think of anything much worse than that? (Sarcasm intended.)
When we were done, during my nightly prayer time, I thanked God that it was over, even though I knew that was a pretty trivial thing to be thankful for. And then God spoke back to me and made me realize what I should REALLY be thankful for. When I say he spoke back, I don't mean I heard a voice or anything like that. But it was like our senior pastor Scott Dudley describes it: thoughts that are like our own thoughts but yet are not our thoughts. That's what came to me. And here's what God reminded me of.
Instead of thanking God that I didn't have to be on the annoying restricted diet any more, there were other things that I needed to thank him for, and for which I truly am grateful. First, I live in a country where there is such great medical care, that I have screening tests available to me so that I can prevent dangerous illnesses such as various types of cancer. If I lived, say, in the Congo, I might not be able to have a test like this and would run more risk of serious disease. Second, I have plenty of food to eat; I am not in danger of starving, as are so many of the world's poor people. Third, I have such a diverse selection of food at my disposal, that I can vary my diet if I need to restrict it, and when I'm done with the restricted diet, I can go back to eating food that I enjoy. Many people around the world have to eat whatever they can get. I get to choose what tastes good to me. And last, the screening test had a good result; I'm not at risk at this time.
It really put the whole thing in perspective for me. When I looked at it with God's eyes, I saw that what had been annoying to me was actually a blessing, and that there were other blessings that I had failed to notice. It showed me that praying is something I need to do more often, if only to ask God throughout the day to help me to see with his eyes. And when I see with his eyes, the result that I want going forward is that it will lead me to act in ways that accord with his will, including doing more to help those who do not have the food and medical care that I have.
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5 comments:
You are thanking God presumably for things you have that others don't have. Why doesn't God give others what you have? Are you special? I think we can thank God for the possibility of certain advantages, but I am troubled by the notion that God gives to one and not to another. It sounds a little like the pharisee and publican in Luke's gospel.
I think you have misunderstood what I was saying. I wasn't thanking God that I have those things and others don't. I was realizing that the fact that I have them is a blessing, because I can't take those things for granted. They are not a given that every person has, although I had been living as if they were. I know that I am not special, and that is why, since I have those things, first, I should be grateful for them, and second, I should do more, as I said at the end of the post, to help those who do not have the things that I have. I need to share the bounty I have with those who do not have it. I don't know why God has blessed me with bounty and has not blessed others with it, but one reason may be to teach me to share the bounty with those who do not have it.
Indeed Debbie... how dare you be grateful.
A very irenic response to anonymous drive-by. But I would take issue with one remark- you are special. Each of His children are. We do damage to the nature of the good news if we diminish or forget this.
Profound last sentence in your response. Thank you.
dm
In contrast to the times we otherwise disagree on some things, I found this post to be familiar. I can't say that I hear God - or maybe I do but I would describe it differently? But I definitely see God in what you describe.
Maybe "anonymous'" frustration comes from the honest answer to questions like that one, which is "I don't know." Its hard to live in 'I don't know' - my mailing address is there. It *is* unjust that some have a too much when others don't have enough, but it is also true that this is only the case because those with too much won't surrender it for someone else's sake.
I see that process, of surrendering, as a lifelong one that I'll never complete, but in which each small step is a step in the right direction.
Yes, it's unjust that some people have things and others don't, but I almost felt as if Anonymous were saying that it wasn't true. ("I am troubled by the notion that God gives to one and not to another.") The fact is, disparities do exist. I was realizing that I need to be grateful for the good things that I have, on the one hand, and on the other hand, that I need to be generous with them rather than hoard them to myself, since other people don't have enough. The point of the whole post was that while I was focussing on being annoyed at the inconvenience of a medical test, what I really should have been noticing was that it was wonderful that I had that medical test at all. And the gratitude for that should lead me to try to create a better balance in the world between those who have much and those who have little.
But the gratitude is huge, too. It's not just that it should be a conduit towards sharing with others. I don't know why I have good things while others don't, but I do, and I can and should be grateful for them. God is good, and his goodness includes everyone. I don't know why he has not blessed everyone with all the blessings he has given me. As Aslan tells the children often in the Narnia books, that is their story, and he only tells me my story. But in my story, I have been given many blessings, and for me to focus on the inconvenience aspect of some of them, instead of the marvelous benefit of them, is wrong. Gratitude for them is the right response to God who has truly given them to me as part of his loving goodness. Note that I am not saying it's the only response. It still should lead me to working for justice and aid to those who don't have these things. But gratitude is also a response that is appropriate for its own sake.
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