Thanking God fro Nothing

Bible Reading:  Isaiah 51:1-8

Key Verse: Verse 3 – “For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.”

Key Words:  thanksgiving 

In our Bible reading for today, Isaiah is encouraging the people of Israel as they go through a major adversity.  In verse one, Isaiah says that they are in a pit, so he now reminds them in verse three that God is their Comfort.  He alone can make the wilderness they are in like the Garden of Eden.  He alone can give them joy and gladness, and bring back a heart of thanksgiving.

I have found that it is easy to be thankful when God comforts us, and brings us out of our adversity; but when was the last time we thanked God for not having to go through adversity?

One day a missionary longed to see his brothers.  They agreed to meet in the remote mountains of central Italy.  After arriving and enjoying the reunion, each of the brothers began to tell about their journey and how they arrived for the reunion.

One brother who had traveled by mule said, “God protected me in a miraculous way.  When I was crossing a narrow bridge over a deep mountain gorge, the mule jumped.  I fell and narrowly escaped falling over the wall into the gorge.  God, by His love, saved my life.”

The second brother said, “I had to cross a river, and I slipped and fell.  The water carried me down the river.  But God, in His grace, provided a tree which had fallen across the river.  I grabbed a branch and pulled myself to shore, thanks to God’s mercy.”

The third brother said, “I, as well, am thankful.  I am thankful that I came across no gorge to fall into, and no river to sweep me away.  I had a most pleasant trip.  I am thankful that nothing happened on my journey.”

                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:

            ✞ Thank God that He has seen or will see you through adversity.

            ✞ Thank God also for those events that never happen.

            ✞ Thank God for the times He protected you and you never knew it.