And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks, for this is God’s perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:18
I never truly appreciated this verse as much as I have over the past two days. I’ve been getting my cousins house ready for closing by the end of the week. Up to this point everything was going fairly well. Until last week when the back door latch broke, the front door stormdoor hydraulics leaked and we couldn’t close the door. No big deal both are fairly easy fixes. But then on Monday it got a bit more intense. It appeared that the toilet was leaking and coming through the dinning room ceiling, so we thought. When the plumber came he said we’ll start with what might be the easiest fix first (which would have been a bad seal, esay fix) and if it isn’t that, we’ll go from there. Sounds good, right? Well to make a long story short, the ceiling had to be taken down because the pipe had a crack in it from the wall to the toilet, and now the entire ceiling will have to be repalced because they don’t make those tiles anymore.
At that point I just decided to put all this in perspective, one of thanksgiving and gratefulness. I thanked God I knew who to call for the doors and the plumbing, people I could trust and would do the job correctly and in a timely manner. I thanked Him for the ability to work with the Realtor and Estate Attorney to make sure the buyer would be notified and what choices she had. I was so grateful that it happened to me and not to the new owner to be, who would move in thinking all was well in their new home and then soon dealing with a costly mess. Everything could be fixed reasonably quickly which also was such a blessing. And the funds would be there to make all the repairs.
Then I remembered years ago I heard John Haggee say, Christians need to be like teapots, when you’re in hot water up to your neck just sing! And sing I began to do, every worship song and hymn I coule think of. Sometimes I belted it out with all the fervor I that was in me at the time, other times it was a quiet hum the words of encouragement, calm, peace and victory coursing through my mind. Even in the car Word FM seemed to be playing songs I needed to hear and feeding me the Word, which made my devotional time even more productive. Here’s what transpired, the more I sang, the more I thanked Him, spoke and read His Word, the more peace of heart and mind I experienced. Although I should have been tired and hurting physically, I found I wasn’t, and when I rested I was qucikly restored. All I can say is “Thank YOU JESUS!” He is amazing and I know it was all of Him working inside me.
I know I was experiencing the power of the Resurrection that Paul was speaking about. I encourage you to try singing grateful songs of thanksgiving and read, say and sing Scripture the next time it feels like the world is throwing everything at you, including the proverbial bathroom sink. You too will find the power of the Resurrection, a calmness, encouragement, strength, soundness and peace of heart, mind and body. Rest in Jesus and He will truly give you everything you need, because He is everything we need to live an amazing life beyond our won comprehension.
Dawn says
I know this was such a busy and chaotic and stressful time. And your birthday was right in the middle of it. I’m so glad I could help with some of this. God has shown He truly is the comfortor and provider. Love you!