Clueless

I had to laugh last night as my wife and I were watching a movie on TV.  In one scene one of the characters in the comedy was making some completely erroneous comments about other people and all the while was total clueless to the inaccuracy of her statements.  I enjoyed the moment and turned to my wife to explain how I had worked with people like that.  Individuals who have developed what they feel is the truthful and only applicable hypothesis of certain situations or of other people, but are, in reality, totally clueless to the actual facts and or background of the circumstances.  And while they are completely serious about their statements, those who know the truth have all they can do to keep a straight face while they listen to them dig themselves into a hole!

While I was laughingly telling this to my wife, I suddenly straightened up as I realized that this was exactly what had happened with the few distractors that have come against us in our stand of faith and the decisions we have made in line with that stand concerning my wife’s healing.  These individuals have been so totally clueless to so many of the decisive facts, that it has gone from being hurtful and frustrating to humorous!

Later on the reality of being clueless came back to teach me a lesson.  The Hallmark channel has begun its annual run of nightly Christmas movies and we have been tuning in to some of them.  During one scene of Christmas family activities I turned to my wife and exclaimed my thoughts about some fun things we could do together as part of our celebration this year.  Like many of you, Christmas was always a special time for our family but with the attack on my wife’s health, the last few years have been a little difficult for me.  For the moment though, I cast that aside and shared some fun and slightly silly new possibilities with her that I thought she might enjoy, or last least invoke a giggle from her.

Well, while she was fairly alert and was watching the show she demonstrated absolutely no reaction toward me or my comments.  I looked at her drawn features for a few moments, and then plopped back against the couch.  It was one of those times where it seemed like a zillion negative thoughts came pounding into my head at the same time!  I even had a millisecond where I heard and considered the voice of a couple of Piper’s relatives who had originally blamed me for my wife’s illness.

Then as multiple emotions were beginning to gather about me, I had the thought of the stand we have taken on God’s Word and I instantly saw the light.  I sat up ramrod straight and verbally proclaimed that even though there are a lot of things going on where I have yet to see any answers that I am NOT CLUELESS to the FACTS that will prevail from His Word!

I have to tell you that it was like a night to day experience.  The heaviness that was creeping up on me INSTANTLY disappeared and my hope and expectations were IMMEDIATELY restored!

This morning as I read from I Thessalonians 5:18 I understood what had happened the night before.  The familiar rendition of the King James Version tells us “In everything give thanks” but the S. Way translation from his “Letters of St Paul to Seven Churches and three Friends with the Letter to the Hebrews” seemed to put it all together for me today.  It succinctly tells us to “find something to thank God for in all things.”

Last night was one of those experiences for me in that for a moment it seemed like nothing was working.  Have you ever faced a time like that?  It was like the only light you see at the end of the tunnel is from a freight train that is barreling down upon you to quicken your demise!  But thank God for His words of rescue and encouragement.  The thought that overcame the lies of the enemy was that when all else fails, WE GET TO TRUST IN GOD AND HIS WORD!  It is one of the benefits of our salvation!

I Corinthians 10:13 in the NKJV calls it His provision of “the way of escape.”  Hebrews 11:1 defines it as our faith which “assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot (yet) see.” (God’s Word ©)  Romans 4:17 confirms that this is also the way that God sees things where it talks about “God who quickens the dead and calleth those things that be not as though they were.” (KJV)

Sometimes the only good thing that you can find to thank God for in a seemly hopeless situation is what His Word says about it.  Remember, Jesus Himself told us that “with men this is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26 KJV)  And you know…While it may be the only thing… it is also the BEST things you can do!

You and I HAVE A CLUE when it comes to the possibilities of God in the midst of the situations we face each day in our lives!  And even when things may look their bleakest, we can ALWAYS find something to be thankful for!  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting to be THANKFUL FOR today?”