Author Barbara Johnson writes: “I was frazzled; I was running late and had to stand while riding the bus to work. My attitude was going downhill fast when a cheery voice from the front of the bus announced, ‘Beautiful day, isn’t it?’ I couldn’t see the man but I listened to his commentary as he described the lovely scenery… this church… that park… a firehouse. His grateful attitude lightened the load of everyone on the bus. Then as I got off the bus I glimpsed at the speaker: an average-looking man wearing dark glasses and carrying a white stick!”
The Bible says, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God.” We don’t necessarily thank God for trials, but we thank Him in them. Gratitude is like a boomerang. It blesses the recipient, makes a 180-degree turn and comes back to bless the person who first displayed it. It’s been said that whatever crisis you are going through in your life, before it came your way… God made sure you’d be able to endure it. The Bible tells us that others have gone through the exact same thing (the reason we reach out to others who are hurting— to minister to them)… and made it through victoriously. God has promised to ‘make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
Trials and “escape ways” are inseperable. But the devil doesn’t want you to know that. So, every time you go through a test the devil tells you that there’s no way out. You need to know that when the devil keeps pressuring you, it’s always an indication that “the way out” is getting ready to be revealed. We need to do what God tells us to do: “Rejoice!” One of my favorite Bible passages is in the Book of Nehemiah (8:10): “The joy of the Lord is my strength!” When we have His joy, it gives us strength for the journey. Amen? Amen!
