Rejoice, pray and give thanks... even when you don't feel like it....

This morning I am home sick with the stomach flu.  I don't feel like rejoicing.  I am having a hard time being thankful.  I am disgusted, and I want to be well.  Rumor has it I am even a little on the crabby side about the whole thing.  But for today, I haven't any choice, and I am stuck with things as they are - too much time, no energy to do.

Having exhausted the news, and with little else to do while I lay here, I started to think about something I read awhile back, about the difference between blessing and gratitude.  I wasn't really a fan of the original article - I thought it was more of a semantic argument than a real difference - but it did get me started thinking this morning about what is a blessing and what I am grateful for.

Turns out, I do think there is a difference, that of action versus reception.  In other words, I am blessed by actions in my life that are often beyond my control, and I am grateful for what I receive in response.  Turns out even the bad stuff can have a positive outcome if God is the one in charge.

How do I apply this to my own life?  Here are some examples:

I was blessed by having been given up for adoption.  I am grateful that I was thus available for the family I was given.

I was blessed by my divorce.  I am grateful that I was thus emotionally prepared for the husband I now have.

I was blessed to move away from my friends and the life I had built in Kansas City.  I am grateful for the opportunity to spend precious time with my mother and other extended family members.

Although each blessing, whether in my control or not, included loss and hardship, it also included an outcome for which I can be grateful.

Loss and gain.  Blessing and gratitude.  There are so many examples in the Bible of giving up something valued to receive something better.

I think this is what Paul is referring to in his First Letter to the Thessalonians, Chapter 5, verses 16-18.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances."

These are simple instructions, but so difficult to follow.  I don't think they were easy commands for Paul, as his life was one of enduring struggle and ongoing persecution.  But Paul led by example, showing God can change anything, and his outcomes are better than our simple plans.  This is what Paul was encouraging in his followers, and what he is encouraging us to do today.

When life throws a wrench into our plans, we have to seek the blessing and be grateful for the opportunity.  It will be there.  The God who saved Jonah from the belly of the great fish is the same God who can take disaster and make it a blessing.

How can I positively reframe having the flu?  Well, for starters, it has given me an opportunity to be grateful for the warm and cozy home I have, the comfortable sofa I am laying on, the kitchen filled with various foods to try when I am up to it, the pets who are keeping me company, and the friends who have reached out to me to wish me well through social media.

I am rejoicing in the saving grace he bestowed upon me.

I pray for others who are ill that they may find the comfort I have, both in my physical security, and in the promise of the resurrection which transcends all earthly travails.

And I am thankful that I have a God who knows the outcome and has already planned my every moment.