LovebirdsFlying
My husband drew this cartoon of me.
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Lord, please help me remember every day to give You thanks for the fleas.
I'm referring to Corrie ten Boom's experience, imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp with her sister Betsy. Conditions were terrible. To top it all off, their barracks were infested with fleas. As they studied I Thessalonians 5:18, Betsy counseled Corrie that the Scripture says to give thanks in all circusmtances, not just the pleasant ones. They could thank God that they were together when so many families had been torn apart. They could thank God that their baggage had not been searched, and they still had their Bible. And they could thank God for the fleas.....
Corrie could go along with the rest of that, but being thankful for the fleas? No way!
Betsy was right. As it turned out, because the guards were so repulsed by those fleas, they didn't want to go anywhere near the place. This meant that the women in the barracks were left alone, not harassed and toyed with as they might have been. They had the freedom to read their Bible, to pray, to study, to talk as they wished, all because the fleas offered them a barrier that protected them from the guards.
I believe stories like this are what people mean when they say, "everything happens for a reason." It was by God's design that the fleas were there, and they served a useful purpose that benefitted the women in the barracks. Nowadays people take it as belittling. Sometimes it's understood as meaning that some tragedy happened because it was deserved. That's essentially what Job's friends were saying to him. Those words show up on pretty much every list of things NOT to say during a crisis. Certainly you don't want to toss a careless, "there is a reason why it happened," or "it's for the best," or "it's all part of God's plan" to a grieving mother who has just buried a child, to anyone who has just been the victim of a horrific assault, or to anyone who has been maimed in an accident, or anything else awful like that. It's not the thing to say in the moment. They're going to see it as dismissive, unsupportive, and toxic positivity.
But doesn't "thank God for the fleas" essentially amount to the same thing? If not, what's the difference?
God does use awful things to bring about good, but that doesn't make the awful things not awful. When thanking God for the fleas, it's perfectly OK to acknowledge that you're miserable. Be honest about your emotions. Don't put on a cheerful face when you feel anything besides cheerful. Go ahead, scream and yell because you're in pain. God already knows how you really feel, so you might as well own up to it. "Dear Lord God, these fleas are driving me crazy and I hate them. I'm going to need Your strength and a miracle from You if You expect me to put up with them for one more second. But You're smarter than I am. You know the end from the beginning. You know why this is happening, even if I don't. Surely You have some purpose in mind that I don't see right now, so thank You, Lord, for whatever purpose you have for these terrible, awful, miserable, wretched fleas."
Thank Him for the fleas through clenched teeth if you have to, but thank Him.
I'm referring to Corrie ten Boom's experience, imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp with her sister Betsy. Conditions were terrible. To top it all off, their barracks were infested with fleas. As they studied I Thessalonians 5:18, Betsy counseled Corrie that the Scripture says to give thanks in all circusmtances, not just the pleasant ones. They could thank God that they were together when so many families had been torn apart. They could thank God that their baggage had not been searched, and they still had their Bible. And they could thank God for the fleas.....
Corrie could go along with the rest of that, but being thankful for the fleas? No way!
Betsy was right. As it turned out, because the guards were so repulsed by those fleas, they didn't want to go anywhere near the place. This meant that the women in the barracks were left alone, not harassed and toyed with as they might have been. They had the freedom to read their Bible, to pray, to study, to talk as they wished, all because the fleas offered them a barrier that protected them from the guards.
I believe stories like this are what people mean when they say, "everything happens for a reason." It was by God's design that the fleas were there, and they served a useful purpose that benefitted the women in the barracks. Nowadays people take it as belittling. Sometimes it's understood as meaning that some tragedy happened because it was deserved. That's essentially what Job's friends were saying to him. Those words show up on pretty much every list of things NOT to say during a crisis. Certainly you don't want to toss a careless, "there is a reason why it happened," or "it's for the best," or "it's all part of God's plan" to a grieving mother who has just buried a child, to anyone who has just been the victim of a horrific assault, or to anyone who has been maimed in an accident, or anything else awful like that. It's not the thing to say in the moment. They're going to see it as dismissive, unsupportive, and toxic positivity.
But doesn't "thank God for the fleas" essentially amount to the same thing? If not, what's the difference?
God does use awful things to bring about good, but that doesn't make the awful things not awful. When thanking God for the fleas, it's perfectly OK to acknowledge that you're miserable. Be honest about your emotions. Don't put on a cheerful face when you feel anything besides cheerful. Go ahead, scream and yell because you're in pain. God already knows how you really feel, so you might as well own up to it. "Dear Lord God, these fleas are driving me crazy and I hate them. I'm going to need Your strength and a miracle from You if You expect me to put up with them for one more second. But You're smarter than I am. You know the end from the beginning. You know why this is happening, even if I don't. Surely You have some purpose in mind that I don't see right now, so thank You, Lord, for whatever purpose you have for these terrible, awful, miserable, wretched fleas."
Thank Him for the fleas through clenched teeth if you have to, but thank Him.
