Blessed

February 21, 2024 / thinkfulkarin / 1 Comment

Blessed?

How would you describe a man whose mother was the ninth wife of a polygamist, and due to persecution by the other wives, chose to flee from the home forever leaving her toddler baby boy to grow up as the abandoned one among all the “other children?” He would never see her again.

When he reached his primary school years, there was so much strife in the home that he left as well, becoming a street-kid sleeping outside under bridges or wherever. Amazingly, he cheerfully and dutifully did odd jobs for people in town to buy food and pay his own way through primary school. In his early teens, he returned home only to find that his father and family were involved in intense witchcraft, so he fled home again.

As he worked his way through high school, there was a German-language teacher who had the boys come to his home for a meal, and he shared the gospel with them. God spoke to this young man’s heart, and he received Christ. He received forgiveness for his sins and a new purpose for living.

A few years later, as he grew in his faith, he worked his way through engineering school, but while working as an engineer, God called him into ministry. Now a pastor for more than a decade, he is finishing his Masters in Theology with NTCGS (National Theological College and Graduate School). David had him in his latest class.

How would you describe such a person given his horrific childhood? Would you have described him as “Blessed?” His name is Paddy Blessed Musoke.

David and Paddy (Paddy gave me permission to tell his story)

Choosing God’s Perspective

As we discussed God’s purposes in suffering during our class time, David mentioned the seven initial responses Christians should have when facing suffering:

God is God and I am not (Ps. 115:3, Is. 40:13-14).
God’s ideas and plans are far beyond my human understanding (Is. 55:8-9).
God is the sovereign over all calamities in and around my life (Job 36:32, 1 Sam. 2:6-7, Is. 45:7, Lam. 3:38, Amos 3:6, Nahum 1:3). Nothing/no one touches me without His love, permission, and design (Rom. 8:28).
God knows exactly what I can handle with His grace, though it seems more than I can handle; He is holding back a crushing amount of suffering that might destroy my faith (1 Cor. 10:13, Dan. 3:17, 2 Pet. 2:9).
God loves me with an everlasting love; He is always good; He is faithful and will never leave me (Psalm 119:67-68, 71, Is. 43:2, Jer. 31:3).
God calls me to be resolutely thankful for so much during my suffering (Phil. 4:6, 1 Thess. 5:18).
I am the servant of the Lord, immortal, invincible, and indestructible until the Lord is finished with me, and then eager to go Home when He calls me (2 Cor. 5:1-9).

Paddy came up after class and after sharing his story, related that during his devotion time in November 2023, he sensed the Lord asking him to thank Him for his hard past, for his painful childhood and difficult memories. “Thank me, Paddy.” It seemed so odd and horrible that the Spirit would ask this … and yet he knew that God had already used his past pain and street smarts in ministry. With tears, he agreed and thanked the Lord … and felt a huge burden lift from his soul knowing that the Lord had built sovereign foundations into his life, making him the man and minister that he is. He thoughtfully nodded and told us, “It is important to be thankful in all things.”

Setting Up God For A Fall

Your view of God is the most important thing about you. To the extent your view is flawed, it will distort, disturb, and disrupt your perceptions of yourself and your circumstances. Your real theology comes out in a crisis, like the squeezing of a sponge reveals whatever is inside. To use another analogy, trials are the tornado that tears off the “street view” your formal beliefs leaving exposed the basement of your functional beliefs.

There are several common ways that Christians think about God that “set Him up for failure” when they begin to suffer. In other words, popular teaching as well as the hymns and choruses we sing require more of God than the Scriptures do, so that when we suffer, we feel He has failed us, wasn’t there for us, did not hear us, or refused to respond to our deepest needs. Let’s look at some of these flawed views:

GOD IS MY GENIE – “When I call on Him, He has magical power to grant my wishes and fix my problems.”
GOD IS CHIEFLY MY FRIEND – “My friends don’t hurt me or let me down but run to help me in hard times however they are able … and God has infinite ability.”
GOD HAS MY IDEA OF LOVE – “God’s love is like my love for my children, wanting only happy and positive things so that I can thrive, and His power guarantees me a smooth ride in life.”
I HAVE FAITH IN FAITH – “If I believe, pray, and give enough, it will go well for me. If God doesn’t answer, there is some unknown sin or problem with me that is stopping Him.”
PSALMS AND PROVERBS ARE PROMISES – “If I do what is right, God will make things good. As my shield and defender and Shepherd and Rock, He won’t allow bad things to happen to me.”
ALL THE PROMISES OF SCRIPTURE APPLY TO ME – “As a Christian in the modern Church Age, I can claim as my own the promises God gave to ancient Israel at any time, even those given during unique circumstances.”
- “None of these diseases shall come near me” – Exodus 15
- “No weapon formed against me shall prosper” – Isaiah 54
- “He only has thoughts of good and not evil” – Jeremiah 29

God has some great relational titles: Creator, Father, Redeemer, Sanctifier, Crafter, Comforter, and Guide. I love all of those. But genie and friend are not on the list. There are no such verses that explicitly say so, and those who say God is in those roles often turn their backs on Christ, the Church, and the faith when hard trials come. “How could God … ?!” And they turn away from a God who is silent or busy or not there or not very loving. Their wrong view of God set Him up for a fall.

The role of the Holy Spirit as our Comforter is perhaps closest to the role of a friend, but God is not committed to making it easy and nice for His children as friends typically are. Ask the Old Testament prophets. Ditto John the Baptist. Ditto Jesus. Ditto all of the Apostles. Ditto the faithful martyrs through the centuries. We are caught up in the workings of a much greater plan than we can imagine, and often we need more personal shaping than we can imagine, so God’s work involves our suffering.

So when God’s Word says to give thanks in all circumstances, He knows that this will be grueling for some of us. And yet, it is curative. It embraces with tears the background sovereign purpose and design behind all our pain and loneliness so that, as Rutherford wrote, I can “praise God for the hammer, the file (rasp), and the furnace.”

“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”
A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous

Are you blessed?

Th(i)nkful for Emmanuel

December 20, 2023December 20, 2023 / thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

God Became Man

There is only one time in history that a multitude of angels gave praise to God before a human audience. Just one time. It wasn’t when God appeared to Moses on Mt. Sinai, or at the parting of the Red Sea, or when the Temple in Jerusalem was dedicated by Solomon. It also wasn’t when Jesus walked on water, or when He died at Golgotha, or even when He rose again triumphing over sin, death, Satan, and hell.

It was on the evening that Deity stepped into humanity and was born to walk among us; the night Emmanuel was born. The single angelic announcement of the birth of the only Savior of the entire world was not made to Caesar, nor to a Roman governor, nor to the Jewish High Priest nor the leaders of the Jewish faith. In today’s terms, there was no social media blitz.

This singular event of seeing an angelic multitude shouting out praises to God was reserved for a group of humble shepherds on a hillside outside Bethlehem on the night that Emmanuel was born.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14

God With Us

Holiness with sinfulness. Wholeness with brokenness. Perfection with fallenness. God with us.

One of the greatest truths that defies our understanding, and one of the reasons we love God most, is because He has a desire and a commitment to be with us. He created us to be with Him. We then betrayed Him. We defected to another kingdom and joined the rebellion. Our communion with Him had to end. The Garden of Eden was closed for good. Paradise was lost.

But the story was the Author’s still and from the beginning, God had made a plan to be with us … so that we could be with Him. While proclaiming the curse upon the woman, God said that a serpent-crusher would one day come, a male child born of a woman but not a man.

God used Isaiah to fill in the picture a bit. He prophesied that a virgin would conceive and bare a child and call him “Immanuel,” God with us (7:14). Isaiah also wrote that this child would be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6). Clearly, this child would be Deity in human form.

But how would He secure our salvation? Isaiah also wrote what is called “the Gospel in the Old Testament” in chapter 53. This God-Man would die a terrible and lonely death in our place and for all of our sins. Hundreds of years later, Jesus was born, and after four years of amazing ministry and teaching revealing who He really was, “God with us” became “God instead of us.” The Creator allowed Himself to be killed by His own creation … so that we could be forgiven and once again be back together with God. We think thanks!!!

Thanks for Never Leaving Us

As Emmanuel prepared to finish His work here and return to heaven, He gave several precious promises to His disciples. He said He and the Father would send His Spirit to indwell them as a comforter and guide (John 14:16-18, and 16:6-15). As He commissioned the disciples, He also said, “I will be with you to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20). While He is not physically present with us as believers, His Spirit within us is our constant companion. He is still Emmanuel. “God with us” is now “God within us,” and He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us … never (Heb. 13:5).

In time, our physical separation from the Lord will be over. A few hours ago this precious lady, our dear friend Sarah, went to be with the Lord. She loved Him so much. God was with her through her walk on this earth, and now she is with Him in a fuller way. Faith has become sight. Her spirit has left her body and is present with the Lord. We will miss her, but we are so happy for her. She is more fully realizing her Emmanuel.

The Culmination of All Things – God With Us

Jesus said that one day He would come back for His own. “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3). Notice that Jesus isn’t saying I will come take you to heaven, but rather take you to be with me – more Emmanuel talk.

Paul said that this return will involve a first and second step, a split second apart. Immediately after the resurrection of the justified, “we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.“

It is said that some Christians would want to go to heaven even if Jesus wasn’t there. But heaven is incidental. Our God wants to be with us; it is part of His very nature and character, and for this attribute of His we need to give Him our extreme thanks this holiday season!

May this Christmas season be a time of reflecting on Emmanuel coming to be with us and may you receive His perfect peace as you become conformed to His image.

PS. The explanation of the two different ways of spelling is that Immanuel is used in the Old Testament and Emmanuel is used in the New Testament.

Thankful for Fifi

October 16, 2023 / thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

Causing More Thanksgiving

This is Fifi!!

I met Fifi for the first time five years ago. She was a 7 Rivers Outreach missionary living on the farm. As we got into the work here in KwaZulu-Natal, I began to understand how valuable this little giant was to the team.

Born on the side of the road in Amahlongwa and facing abuse while growing up in the community around 7 Rivers, Fifi knew the people, the history, and the challenges.

At the age of 16, she trusted in Christ alone for her salvation. It was not easy, but she had watched her adopted father minister to others in home-based care, interpreting while her father shared the gospel with them. Her heart had been touched and softened. One day, she bowed to the Lord and received His precious gift of forgiveness of all her sins, from the cradle to the grave.

Fifi then went to Word of Life Bible Institute for a year to grow in her Bible knowledge and walk with Christ. Afterwards, she amazingly returned to 7 Rivers to work as a missionary, visiting homes and sharing the gospel predominantly with our nearby children. When others would typically run away from such a past, Fifi returned.

As believers in Jesus Christ, one of our motivations for sharing the gospel is that the more believers there are, the more thanksgiving will be given to God. Fifi has been a faithful evangelist in the valley for years now, speaking about Christ with her peers, running a kids’ soccer ministry several times a week, and helping me by interpreting our weekly evangelistic Bible studies with local marginalized women. As a result of her work, more people are giving thanks to God.

For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 4:15

Pulling In Closer

I got the privilege of mentoring Fifi. We would meet to study God’s word together, memorize Scripture, talk about how the Bible was worked out in our daily lives, and close by praying together.

We must have gone through at least three to four books together. Godly, wise counsel often comes from good books. One great one that we worked through was “Putting Your Past in Its Place,” by Steve Viars. That is one we both would highly recommend.

Fifi is so edifying to me personally. I love to hear her pray. She has a heart for sharing the gospel and see people’s lives change.

Glorifying God in the Waiting Room

Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:14

Fifi had her share of disappointments, but God was always there, guiding and comforting her. We prayed often together that God would bring a godly man into her life if that was His will. I remember distinctly when she finally said that she was not looking anymore. She was going to just obey the Lord and work for Him and not worry about getting married.

Funny. Right after that, God brought Bongani into the picture. God often seems to do that. He wants us to yield to His choice, His time, and His ways.

Only God could have brought this couple together. She didn’t think he existed; he didn’t think she existed. But then there was a conference at which they met. So thankful for God’s ways and purposes.

They get married next month. So happy for them.

Thinking Thanks

As we approach the time Fifi will be leaving us, I wanted to express my thanks to God for this lady.

Fifi loved so many people in the community and helped them. Here she is giving Mabongi a ride.

Fifi interpreted faithfully for me as I taught the ladies through Colossians, then James, and now the Gospel of Mark. She wants the handout early so she can carefully prepare to use the right Zulu words. She takes God’s Word seriously and wants to be pleasing to the Lord in how she gets the meaning across.

But…..Fifi’s heart was with the kids. She loved the children and wanted them to be safe and to be able to hear about Jesus and the hope we have in Him. That is why she is so excited about the construction of the Thola Centre in the nearby village of Olwasini. 🙂

We had the privilege of having Fifi stay with us in the US for a short time and she was even a blessing to our daughter Elly, who designed the African dolls that we sell.

Thankful Admonition

So as we go through this season of wedding preparations, I wanted her to remember lessons we studied together when we memorized Colossians 3. I shared these seven reminders:

Set your mind on things above (vv 1-2)
Put on compassionate hearts…. forgiving each other (vv 12-13)
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts (v 15)
Be thankful (vv 15-17)
Speak and sing God’s Word to each other (v 16)
Submit and pray for Bongani (v 18)
Work heartily as to the Lord (v 23)

God is faithful through every season of life. We will miss our Fifi so much, but we are thankful for the new challenges that lie ahead for her and for us. God is faithful every step of the way until we finally get to see Him face to face.

“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!”
Henry Ward Beecher
(1813-1887)

Response to Angst?

May 22, 2023May 22, 2023 / thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

Eric Liddell

“Don’t go, Daddy!” The girls clung to their dad as he tried to go, walking towards the gangplank. Flo tried to think that it would only be a short time before Eric would join her and the girls in Canada. WWII had begun, and the roil in Europe and the Pacific was demanding many sacrifices from everyone.

The Japanese invaders had given foreigners in China the option to leave or to stay in “internment camps.” The Liddells had both felt that the Lord wanted Eric to stay and help with the work as much as he could, but Flo, expecting their third, and their two precious girls would head to Canada for safety.

Eric and Florence had met in China, both being from missionary families. Eric had used his athletic prowess to further the gospel. Although an Olympic champion, he chose to spend his life on the mission field in China, where he was born.

Eric Liddell would never see his dear wife and beautiful girls again. He died in the Japanese internment camp. I will not spoil it for you, but wow, this was a good biography.

How Flo Reacted

The news of Eric’s passing would be brought to Flo’s door in Toronto, Canada.

She had been able to have contact with Eric to a degree, but things had become more sporadic as the war progressed. There was such hope and vision of being together again in the near future. The news came as such a heavy loss. Eric had succeeded in being a humble, cheerful, and encouraging person who was full of optimism even in dire circumstances in that internment camp. Now she had to find a new normal without him. She had to provide for the girls. The mantle was daunting.

As I read this biography of a person David and I highly admired, I was impressed with the words that Flo penned shortly after his death.

“I have been numbed and overwhelmed by a sense of unreality – of pain – of fear for the future and then there has come welling up from within that power of faith which has carried me through. My faith has been wonderfully strengthened. In looking back I have so much to be thankful for. God has provided so wonderfully – we have been so happy and I know that He is working out His purpose and that good can come out of even this.”
Florence Liddell

The grieving process took its time with great challenges, but underneath were the everlasting arms of her Savior.

She chose to think thanks even when ambiguity and anxiety could have drowned all hope.

When reading about Flo’s response to the horrific news that her husband had passed away, I could not get over the grace that seemed to pour into, and then out of, her.

She utters her numbness and feelings of being overwhelmed, but she also expresses her faith being strengthened, and she notes how many things she is thankful for, like having enjoyed as much happiness in a few years as many couples did in a whole lifetime.

Two Heros

My husband and I have admired Eric Liddell for a long time. He is one of our heroes. His humble and kind way with believers and nonbelievers, his mediating disputes between people in the internment camp, his counseling of teens, and and his organizing activities for teens and children in the internment camp were evidences of his dogged commitment to Christ and to being Christlike.

When visiting our daughter and her husband in China back in 2018, we had the privilege of seeing the place where Eric died in that Japanese internment camp. It is in Weifang, China. There is a lovely Chinese memorial to all those who lived and died in that camp, and a special statue to Eric, whom the Chinese claim as the first person from China to win Olympic gold.

Learning more about Florence Liddell has given me fodder to have two Liddell heroes; not just Eric but his wife as well.

I wonder how I would have responded in similar circumstances? How would you have?

Fostering a thinkful habit of always looking for things for which to be thankful is beneficial indeed. In everyday life, it bolsters our perspective and strengthens our faith as we joyfully obey the I Thessalonians 5:18 command of giving thanks in all circumstances.

But when those once-in-a-lifetime heavy blows come, thinking thanks is a matter of life and death – of angst, bitterness, and even insanity on one hand, and of perspective, trust, and recovery on the other. Unless we have a relationship with the Sovereign One who can be trusted in all the unexpected (for us) events that come, we are doomed.

Challenge

So what about you? Do you have a heavy, big blow that has come into your life? Has it already passed? Perhaps it has not come yet? What are you doing to prepare yourself to weather the storm that surely will present itself?

Put into action today the pieces that build a strong foundation in your mind when the battle engages. It is almost impossible to start forming a godly habit as the bullets fly, the cannons flare, and the missiles howl. You must have forged those convictions before the combat begins.

Develop a daily habit of recording things for which you give thanks…. from the mundane to the big.

Exercise a Psalm 50:23 way of life:

“The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me: to the one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God.”
Psalm 50:23

The DNA of Joy is Thankfulness

February 7, 2022February 21, 2022 / thinkfulkarin / 3 Comments

What is DNA?

Virtually all living things have a programming code within themselves. It is what makes them who or what they are. You have it and I have it. It is, of course, deoxyribonucleic acid … better known as DNA.

DNA: a self-replicating material that is present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information.

Paul Tripp makes a bold statement when he states that “the DNA of joy is thankfulness.” The genetic makeup of joy is thankfulness.

We need to first come up with a good definition of joy. You can see the word “hap” in happiness, which is a feeling of pleasure based on happenings around us. It is a positive emotion responding to external stimuli. When outside circumstances become difficult, the positive feeling is gone.

Joy, in contrast, is like a hardy plant that grows based on processes taking place on the inside – the replication of billions of DNA. Like a spiritual evergreen that is rooted in the water of life, joy is a slowly growing positive contentment generated by the Spirit of Jesus inside the believer that is not a mere product of my circumstances. Joy generates an inward smile … not flashy spike of outward elation. When outside circumstances become difficult, the inward replication continues and even increases.

But what ideas is the Spirit using to generate this good and positive calmness in my heart and mind? John Piper writes: “Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul produced by the Holy Spirit as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the Word and in the world” (John Piper, Desiring God, “How Do You Define Joy?”).

First, the Spirit takes our minds to the Word of God, flipping through its pages to discover the steadfast love of the Lord for His people, His sovereignty over the odds, His ability to bring beauty out of ashes, and glory out of oppression. This builds our confidence in Him for our present struggles.

Second, if we give Him the chance, the Spirit also takes our minds through the world of our lives, our friends, family, and church community to search for His fingerprints, for answers to prayer, for so many things to be thankful for even in our struggles.

If you look at the Word and your world only on the surface, you will struggle to find the beauty of Christ and the splendor of His designs. This is often why over-busy people crash and burn when things go wrong; they don’t have time to search for Spirit-guided insights into the Word and the world. Spirit-led “th(i)nkfulness” requires reflection. The more you think and look for the beauty of Christ, the more DNA of thankfulness you produce … and it takes a lot of DNA to grow this tree of joy.

Carrying Th(i)nkfulness

Paul David Tripp gives us a poem in his book New Morning Mercies that explains how remembering to be thankful to God and all He has done can bring us inner joy:

I wish I always
carried it with me.
I wished it always
shaped the way
I look at life.
I wish it directed
my desires.
I wish it was
the natural inclination of
my heart.
I wish remembering
your boundless grace
would silence
my grumbling.
I wish my worship of you,
my trust of you,
my rest in you
would drive away
all complaint.
If my heart is ever
going to be freed of
grumbling
and ruled by
gratitude,
I need your grace:
grace to remember,
grace to see,
grace that produces
a heart of humble joy.
Paul David Tripp

How This Might Work Practically

Studying Psalm 107 helps to create joy’s DNA. Five times the writer encourages the reader to thank the Lord for His goodness and His steadfast love and His wondrous works to the children of men. He ends with: “Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.”

When we cultivate remembering God’s steadfast love for us, and rehearse all that He has given to us, we begin to wind up that DNA double helix of thankfulness that will produce joy. This is great for husbands and wives, dads and moms, at the end of an event or a weekend to call out, “OK, let’s rehearse the good things God did for us this weekend,” and then do a rapid “thinkful volley” back and forth. The remembering gives a rush of new DNA, building joy in us and inspiring us to trust Him for future days.

Life in the Scorched Earth

But sometimes a field fire just torches your tree. All joy seems lost. I am all too familiar with deep sorrow in these past six months having lost a sister, brother-in-law, dad, nephew and other precious things. How can I remember God’s steadfast love when I sit in ashes?

It is precisely when my circumstances are difficult that I need to remember the steadfast love of the LORD. Though He sent the fire and the tree of joy is gone, there is still the rootstock and the DNA of th(i)nkfulness is still replicating. The God of the fire is also the God of the living water underneath me. My God is still on the throne. He is trustworthy even when He allows hard things. He is with me and comforts me. He cares for me even through tears of sorrow.

With enough DNA, the little sprig of joy will pierce the blackened soil, and joy will begin its journey of growth and fullness reaching toward heaven.

Choosing to remember His steadfast love will genetically produce joy.
Anonymous

I Can Walk

April 27, 2021 / thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

Learning From Absence

“Going through a recent health challenge that left me flat on my back, unable to barely move, did a remarkable thing in my heart,” she said. “Now I rejoice just to walk through the grocery store. I give thanks I can bend and get out of bed.”

We learn best by experience. When something is taken away from us, we become acutely aware of how much we miss it. And we are more thankful if it returns.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder”
Thomas Haynes Bayly

From small things to big things, we grow in thankfulness when we experience its absence.

We bang our big toe and it hurts so badly. Just to be able to put on a shoe again becomes a cherished thing.
We finish a difficult project that took up all our free time … but we start to realize that we actually loved working on it.
We see a loved one move overseas, and we realize how much we miss them. To touch them again is so meaningful.

What are some things that have grown in value to you? Does something have to become absent for you to really be thankful for its presence?

Appreciating Presence

Focusing on things that God has given me right now and expressing thanks is cultivating contentment. It fosters observation and th(i)nkfulness. It is a mindset that promotes mental health and a peaceful life. “What I want and what I have already are the same thing.”

My friend in the opening story above had walked through the grocery store hundreds of times. Often it was rushed. When her intense back problems began and she had to be confined to bed and allow her back to heal slowly, there came a new appreciation to just be able to walk again. Perhaps the great gratitude she now feels for being able to walk would not have come unless she lost it.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain.” The Lord describes a person who has great gain in 1 Timothy 6:6. That person has learned to be godly and content.

Capture Gratitude

Sometimes the capture happens automatically, like when you loose your ability to walk and it is restored, you automatically capture gratitude.

But we can capture gratitude on purpose. Over a cup of coffee, while commuting, or during free time, you can imagine one of the joys in your life, or one of your senses, is eliminated. What would you do? How would your life be different? If God chose that for you, He would give you grace to handle it and to overcome.

But now, come back to reality and praise the Lord that it is not gone! By eliminating something we count on, and then bringing it back, we can capture thankfulness. We are more motivated to not take that thing for granted, but instead appreciate it and express our thankfulness for it to the Lord.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:17

Thank You, God:

That my eyes work
That my hope is not based on me, but instead in YOU!
That one day You will return for us.
That I have access to the Word.
That I can walk
That my inner ear isn’t infected, causing me dizziness
That my headache lifted
That I have a bed to sleep in

Today focus on something to be really thankful about. Capture that thought and feed it!! 🙂

“Contentment is the only real wealth.”
Alfred Nobel

Enough

September 16, 2020 / thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

Tears of gratitude streamed down his face. He was so thankful for a cover over his head and that he was able to eat a warm bowl of stew. A blanket of contentment settled over his whole being. All was well.

I am embarrassed to say that I was angry. Every person deserved better in my estimation. How can you be content with a shack and such meager food?? He kindly and quietly said that living in this shack and having some food was way better than sleeping in the field or under a bridge and slowly starving.

PERSPECTIVE

Contentment really is about perspective. One of the big side effects of believers going on mission trips to impoverished areas is that they return with guilt that they have so much, too much. But how long is it before they move downward from feeling “more than” to feeling “less than” others, where discontentment has crept back in?

KERNEL OF CONTENTMENT

“A harvest of peace is produced from a seed of contentment.” Proverb

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” so we can confidently say, “the Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
Hebrews 13:5-6

There are several elements to the “seed of contentment” in that last verse, and the Lord is the kernel. 1) He has spoken to me and made promises; 2) He has promised that He is with me, never gone, and never unaware; 3) He is committed to me, never giving up, never walking away; and 4) He is my first responder, a helper reacting to my humble plea for help in His time and way.

CONTENTMENT LINKED WITH PEACE

One of my favorite names of God is Jehovah Shalom. It took some time to learn what all is involved in the word ‘Shalom.’ To borrow from modern culture, it is a “holistic wellness” word.

Shalom – wholeness, completeness, rest in my soul, stable prosperity in my finances and assets, no striving for more, harmony in my relationships, physical and mental health, and tranquility in my circumstances.

Jehovah Shalom can satisfy us completely. He has redeemed us and reconciled us to Himself, birthed in us a new divine nature, and has become the Master and careful manager of our circumstances. Those profound truths can greatly influence our contentment. When we get the singlemindedness that only God can really meet our deepest mental and emotional needs, we are able to become completely satisfied. He is enough.

I am not saying that we peacefully cruise to a smiling stop and don’t do our part. We need to work diligently at opportunities provided for us. Whether we are in school, in the marketplace, or working at home, we put our heart and fervent spirit into what lies before us and push to perform with excellence. Punctuality, honesty, character all need to describe us, but also contentment and trust in a sovereign God.

STOPPING WINDOW SHOPPING

What is required to make you feel satisfied, to feel that you have enough? Not sure most of us have really thought that out. We are easily influenced by all the advertising around us … and we begin to desire stuff. We need more, newer, better, faster, bigger. Are we thankful for what we already have?

The Lord has some words for us:

“Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”
I Timothy 6:6-8

“Contentment always eludes those who don’t count themselves blessed for what they already have.” Anonymous

Powerless

April 20, 2020 / thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

Balcony Chat

David and I enjoy eating on our balcony when the weather affords it – which is often here in Southern Africa. Today we were discussing the oncoming challenges of Covid-19, and feeling a bit overwhelmed I asked him, “What is a good verse for such a time as this?”

After pondering for a moment, David responded with “our eyes are on you” from 2 Chronicles 20:12. The setting for that verse is King Jehoshaphat and the great horde of three aligned armies coming toward them. The nation of Israel looked small and meager in comparison to all the enemies marching toward them. They felt overwhelmed and frightened, so the king called out to the Lord in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem and he said:

“O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

An interesting note is that as the people prepared to go out to face their enemy, King Jehoshaphat appointed specific people to go out front in special attire and … amazingly … sing thanksgiving to the Lord. How many armies have you ever heard of that had singers as the front line? This is what they sang (verse 21): “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

First Thank

What a great model for us to do when we feel overwhelmed by all that is happening around us. The “great horde coming against us” is the coronavirus; one doctor said “I view every person coming toward me on the street as a bullet – it might graze me, hurt me badly, or kill me.”

We are fearful of the unknown, and fearful of the responses government and business are making to the unknown. We don’t know what to do, but we will fix our eyes on the Lord. We will choose to think thanks right in the middle of the battle. Just like the Israelites had no idea how God was going to work this all out; they still sent singers to sing thanks to the Lord.

Like most people, I struggle so much with ambiguity. It is a hard thing for us as humans. Right now there is LOTS of ambiguity. But this is exactly what God has designed for us presently. So, with God’s help, I want to grab that ambiguity and think thanks right in the middle of it and power through the difficulty on the supernatural wings of gratitude and grace.

I relate easily with Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 where he pleads for the Lord to remove his thorn in the flesh. The Lord graciously answers no, but adds that His grace is sufficient for him, for His power was able to make him just perfect in weakness.

This, too, will pass. Even if we should lose our earthly lives, we will be with the Lord forever.

So What Happened?

You would not believe it. 2 Chronicles 20:22 says: “And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush…” The enemies around the Israelites started to turn on each other, the whole alliance melting down such that they obliterated each other. By the time the Israelites arrived at the watchtower of the wilderness to look toward the horde in verse 24, the enemy was all dead, just bodies everywhere.

When they began to sing and praise!! The Lord is pleased when we are thinkful. When we choose to think praise and express it even when our circumstances are dreadful around us, we power through in faith offering up a sacrifice of praise and trust in the Almighty One.

So what about me? How can my thinkfulness change the great horde of Covid-19 that is approaching? How can my choosing to think thanks help when people around me are dying, loosing their jobs, and facing hopeless circumstances?

Well, here are a few things for which to be thankful:

God is getting our attention; even this great Western World is a vapor and is going to pass away soon;
God is giving families the opportunity to spend quality and quantity time together, for parents to invest in their first disciples;
God is bringing our impurities to the surface through the heat of change and pressure so that we can repent and yield that area to God;
God is giving us more opportunity to read and pray and write;
God is shifting our values away from vain entertainment industries and toward the meaningful others-serving medical and teaching professions;
God is teaching us to trust His character and promises even though we cannot understand His ways in this storm;
God has given mankind the smarts to invent electricity, the internet and tech devices through which we can communicate and gain valuable information (there was no such help in past great pandemics);
God is opening up opportunities for me, and little churches now going online, to witness about the hope and forgiveness found in Jesus;
God could be freeing me from the heart idols of comfort, control and people-pleasing that have dominated my life;
God is giving a precious opportunity to meet on Zoom with a supporting church

Powerless Is Good

That statement seems so contradictory. How can it be true that when I am powerless, I can be strong? It is because we have a supernatural God. He delights in showing Himself mighty on our behalf, but doesn’t delight in doing what we tell Him to do. No, His ways are higher and better (Isaiah 55:8-9). He delights when we let go, open our hands, worship Him and embrace our Father’s will in our lives no matter what He chooses.

“For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

2 Corinthians 12:10

God-Prints

January 20, 2020June 16, 2023 / thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

Hobby Lobby Joy

Elly, Julia, and I walked into Hobby Lobby. We were exhausted. We had one hour before the store closed, and we wanted to be refreshed. These past two weeks of hard work with training and child care had left us a little bedraggled and weary.

As we moved into the fabric section, I said,”Hey, keep an eye open for green material and for something that might have a phrase from Psalm 23.” I make a new quilt for each of my grandchildren when they turn 12. Our second grandson is next in line for a 12-year-old’s quilt. I seek to incorporate the 12 year old’s favorite color and Bible-verse in creating a twin size quilt. Austin had chosen green and Psalm 23.

Elly had some great ideas of using fleece-like material to represent the sheep. Julia showed a material that illustrated the valley of the shadow of death. I was getting inspired. 🙂

As we perused the variety of fabrics, my eyes caught this green fabric with something written on it. Could it be?? Was it really?? Yes, it was a green fabric with Psalm 23 printed on it. The whole Psalm!!! So cool. Julia and Elly both were amazed. What a God-print!

Developing God-Prints

Have you ever noticed God’s fingerprints? Many people stare right at them but don’t see them. They may see “luck” or “coincidence” because they’re not searching for the print of the person behind a sweet turn of events.

Latent fingerprints are placed wherever our fingers touch another smooth surface. Since the 1930’s, criminal investigators have used the practice of rendering hidden fingerprints visible by using a powder or a chemical agent to make a visual contrast between the ridge patterns and the surface where a fingerprint has been deposited.

If an investigator sees a woman across the way leave her glass at a table, he will not see her fingerprints on the glass from where he is sitting. He will believe they are there, and then investigate so that he can see what he already believes. Jesus said in John 20:29, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet still believe.” Augustine and Anselm echoed this same idea – believe to see, not see to believe.

Believe so that you may see; not see so that you may believe.

If you actively begin searching for the God-prints in your life, it won’t take long. They are all over the place. I love discovering them. Sometimes it is not too obvious, and you have to search intently. Like what investigators do, th(i)nkfulness “dusts” and then lifts the prints of our benevolent God.

I have a special journal in which I record things that are just a little out of the normal, something that has God’s fingerprints all over it. How encouraging it has been to my faith over the years to re-read those entries. God desires for us to walk in intimacy with Him, trusting Him like a child would a beloved parent. As we nurture that relationship, He reveals Himself in precious ways.

The Print Lab

Once an investigator has lifted a fingerprint, he or she returns to the lab to compare the prints with the database. The most potent database of God’s fingerprints is in His Word. God’s Word is alive (Hebrews 4:12). You can read descriptions of His prints and see the circumstances in which they were detected and undetected by people and nations over a period of 1600 years!

Memorizing and meditating frequently on scripture moves His fingerprint data to your mind so that you can compare it with your circumstances at a moment’s notice. You start to see that His hands have touched, well, everything.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. But God’s gifts are still “good and perfect” even if they are not our favorites. When we choose to trust that God has all things in control and loves us beyond measure, we are in a position to be th(i)nkful. We choose to think thanks for every fingerprint, and as we express that thankfulness, it breeds more gratitude.

Even if the God-Prints Hurt?

It is fine and jolly if all is going well, like finding perfect quilting material at Hobby Lobby. But what about when God allows pain and hurtful things in your life, when the dark things also have His fingerprints? How can I think thanks with tears streaming down my face?

God knows when things hurt.
He is fully aware of all the nuances of every detail of your pain.
He knows how many days you have been given.
He even knows what you are going to say next (Psalm 139:4).
He has promised to never forsake us. His fingerprints in the darkest valley of sorrow are even more precious.
Soon this life will be over. Jesus is coming back for us. How do I know that? Because He promised and He doesn’t lie. He can be trusted completely.
He is working on me to better work through me; I need to trust in His “greater good.”

Choose to trust the Lord’s character even when you cannot understand His ways. His fingers have shaped your path, so His fingerprints are there when you commit to searching for them. Think thanks in every God-print, joyful or difficult or frustrating.

Recounting

November 25, 2019November 25, 2019 / thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

Jewelry from River Grass

The tall grass in the river flowing by 7 Rivers Farm here in South Africa produces seeds, which local girls are turning into beaded jewelry for sale locally and overseas.

The Zulu call these chwabasi beads; in some places they are called imfibinga. They come in different shades of brown and gray, and we combine them with glass beads to make some absolutely stunning necklaces, bracelets, and now the latest addition ~ ear-rings.:)

Our girls are learning a job skill, making an income, and learning budgeting as well. The Bead Shop, begun in January of 2017, is the first job-skills development project implemented at 7 Rivers, and hopefully the first of many to come.

Recount ~ Count Again

I am so excited to see these local women using local resources to create things that can be sold all over the world, and earn an income in the process. Cherise Smith has come up with some beautiful designs that the local girls are creating. Check out the Bead Shop link.

But the training wasn’t easy at the beginning. Many of the ladies struggled with counting, with getting the repeating pattern correct, and with getting the lengths uniform. Often, necklaces had to be broken up; they had to start all over again. They needed to count and recount carefully; to consider and reconsider carefully.

We Need to Count and Recount

Counting reminds me of the discipline of being th(i)nkful. I have to learn to stop and count, not something I am making, but what God is making of me. There are light beads – I need to count my blessings. There are dark beads – I need to count it joy when I have trials. This mixture of bright and dark, of drab and colorful, is what makes a beautiful necklace. And what makes a beautiful life.

Recounting reminds me of taking the time to thoughtfully consider what God has done in me over time. Yes, I count as the days go by, but perhaps at Thanksgiving, or at the New Year, or on an anniversary, it is good for me to recount – to replay, reconsider, analyze and synthesize – what God is doing; to be thankful for the bigger picture He is revealing.

“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1; see also 75:1 and 79:13

Thanksgiving Week

This week is Thanksgiving week in the States. Families are usually trying to get together. There will be good food and times of giving thanks. Churches will often spend a service recounting thanks to God for what He is and what He has done.

In our home, we would have a thanksgiving scripture printed on a card for each person at their place setting that they could read orally between dinner and dessert and then share a thing they were thankful for.

But it doesn’t require a national holiday to recount our thanks to the Lord. Every morning when you wake, your mind can recount God’s wonderful deeds – just that you actually woke up. That is a good start. You have been given the gift of another day!

I choose to give thanks.

One of the reasons David the Psalmist was a man after God’s own heart is that he recounted the wondrous deeds of God. A Psalm often begins with him pouring out his fears and frustrations to the Lord … and then midway through, he begins to get God’s perspective on life and what is going on in his circumstances. He starts to recount the steadfast character of God and His blessings on us, His children.

Let’s pretend we are threading a th(i)nkful necklace with the 7 Rivers ladies. And let’s say that there are 7 beads in a set that we need to repeat to eventually make into a lovely necklace. Here are the 7 beads – repeat them 10 times:

I am loved with an everlasting love
I am forgiven of everything through the sacrifice of Jesus, His beloved Son
I am important to Him
I am being watched and studied by two spiritual kingdoms and several people
I am being conformed to the image of Jesus
He is coming back soon for me, for all of His children
He has given us His Word and His Spirit to guide us until then

Just as the precious Zulu ladies count and recount their chwabasi beads to get it just right, we should be counting and recounting the blessings of our Creator.