Be Thankful
This week I experienced breakthrough in a very difficult situation that was completely out of my hands. I had done everything I knew to do, but there seemed to be no end in sight and no resolution. I sought the Lord, and the Lord very clearly spoke to my heart that I was to rest in Him and wait; I was to let Him fight my battle…and indeed He did fight my battle.
With saints praying and me obeying what the Lord had spoken to me, the circumstance was over as quickly as it had begun. Instantaneous breakthrough. The relief was unbelievable. I kept having difficulty believing that it could truly be over and done with, but it was…and the overwhelming spiritual weight and heaviness gone with it.
I found with the relief came an interesting side effect…I wanted to wipe away the memory of the last few weeks, completely forget about it, and move on. And I did for bit that day when the breakthrough came…but the Holy Spirit so gently and kindly spoke these words, breathing them into my heart, “Do not forget to stop and be thankful.” Immediately, the story of the ten lepers filled my heart.
The men who had cried out to Jesus were healed, but only one remembered to stop, turn back to Jesus and be thankful: “Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosymet him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’ When he saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’” Luke 17:11-19
Repeatedly, throughout that day and into the following days, I consciously stopped and remembered to thank the Father. It’s not that the gratefulness was not authentic and had to be forced but that same urge to move past the experience too quickly and distance myself from it kept creeping in.
And the truth is, I actually would not trade this trial for anything. I genuinely feel closer to the Lord now than I have ever felt before. I had to learn to rely on the Father in a new way, and what I’m sure the enemy meant for my destruction…the Father turned into intimacy—a deeper and more intimate faith in Him. I truly am so very thankful…
Today, no matter what circumstance we are in—whether in times of peace or adversity—let’s not forget to be thankful. Ephesians 5:20 says, “…always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Thessalonians 5 actually tells us that this is God’s will for us. So together…today…let’s lift our praise and thanksgiving to the Father for all things and in all things.
Katie Botello
FBC Aztec Member