Just Say Thank You
If I came up to you and asked if you’d look God in the face and tell Him he was dumb, you’d probably laugh at me because that idea alone seems really absurd. Me and a couple of other ladies were talking after church, and while we tried to give thanks to an old war veteran, he continued to discount that he was anything special. I told him that saying he was JUST a Vietnam Vet was like me saying I’m JUST a stay-at-home mom; we all have value in the eyes of the Lord. One lady turned to him and whispered, “This is where you just say thank you.”
After he left, we discussed as women how we can’t just say “thank you,” when we get a compliment; we think we must belittle ourselves to either appear humble or because we truly don’t see truth in what they said. One friend said it’s like saying to the person who offered the compliment that what they said had no worth. I then commented that when we disobey God, it’s like we’re telling him that what He’s asked of us or what He’s trying to tell us is ridiculous.
Often times, I think we secretly skip over parts of the bible that we don’t really want to deal with or we choose to do things our way instead of following the guidelines Jesus has set out for us. We decide for ourselves which are the hard-set rules and which ones are “negotiable.” We scoff at the presumed difficulty of serving Christ, but we overlook scripture in Isaiah 58:11 that tells us that God will always guide us through what He’s asked us to do and that He will strengthen us and supply our needs. When God asks us to do something, we’d all be better off if we could just say, “Thank You, God. I know You have my best interest at heart and I will do it Your way.” I think we’d discover that He knows what He’s talking about and that things work out better for us in the end.
So, the next time someone compliments your sweater, no need to tell them how old it is or that you got it at the discount store…just say “thank you.” The next time God tells you to do something you’re unsure of, just say “Thank You,” remembering that He wouldn’t ask if He didn’t have faith in you and that obedience brings blessings.
Deut. 28:1-2 “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.”