Josh Sullivan’s Miracle

May 26, 2025 / thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

A Kidnapped Missionary

When Pastor Josh Sullivan was knocked in the head and kidnapped right from the pulpit in his church, he had no idea of what lay ahead for him.

Josh and his family came to serve the Xhosa people in South Africa. They learned the language and sought to share the good news of the gospel.

The township of Motherwell where the Sullivans ministered was a high risk area. The people there were well acquainted with theft and unsafe conditions.

The Sullivans knowingly came anyway. They loved the people there.

On April 10, 2025, Josh had just started to speak when four men entered the hall. At first it was not clear why they had come, but it did not take long before their purpose became evident. The men had guns and proceeded to confront Josh. They asked him if this was his wife after grabbing Meagan. They then hit Josh over the head and he fell down almost blacking out. Meagan was also pushed to the floor. Their children and the rest of the church were left alone, just staring eerily.

Josh was forced up, down the aisle amid the whimpers of his children, and out of the building into his own car and they drove away.

The Wait

For 122 hours everyone waited. Josh also waited in a distant house as his captors let the authorities know their demands for money. The news hit social media and then the mainstream media, and people all over the world prayed earnestly for God to protect and free Josh. They prayed for safety for Meagan and the kids. They prayed for God to be glorified through this very difficult, challenging situation.

The authorities were working behind the scenes. The kidnappers were trying to negotiate a ransom for Josh’ life. Some were starting to gather funds.

This is a very tricky problem in mission work. Most mission organizations don’t pay ransoms. It opens up a whole can of worms. If money can be acquired through this means, every missionary in the country becomes a target, and there’s almost no end to the nightmares that could flow from that. We, as fellow missionaries, were praying for great wisdom for the negotiation team, hoping that law enforcement would find Josh before money was paid.

Josh’s feet and hands were tied, and he was hooded. He was kept in the back room of the house. They threatened him, but did not harm him. They offered water and food, and allowed Josh to use the bathroom.

The Miracle

On Tuesday, April 15th, the kidnappers told Josh that he needed to get to the car.

Josh had noticed they were cleaning a lot that day, washing and wiping things down. As they moved toward the garage in the darkness, Josh fell two times. One time it took a while for him to get back up. Three of the men got in the car, two in the front and one in the back with Josh. Josh had a hood over his head and had his head down in the lap of the guy in the back seat.

Josh realized that there were two other guys outside. One opened the garage door. The car pulled out into driveway. Then the car stopped as someone opened the gate at the front wall. At that point, Josh heard the three guys jump out of the vehicle and 20-some shots were fired for about 2-3 minutes. Then everything was quiet.

Josh heard footsteps approaching the car and he prayed to God that it would be a “good guy.” The door opened and the policeman was shocked to see Josh there. He paused, a bit confused, and then said, “Are you the American pastor?” Josh responded that indeed he was. Josh got out of the car, fell to his knees and prayed and cried thanksgiving to God.

The miracle is that the four policemen who pulled into that exact driveway were actually lost and trying to turn around. They were following a tip on a vehicle, but had made a wrong turn. When they pulled into the driveway, they were shocked to see three men get out of their vehicle and begin shooting. The other two guys that were in the garage and opened the gate got away, but the three kidnappers were killed.

The next day when Josh was being debriefed by the South African police and the FBI, that same initial policeman came up to Josh. He wanted to tell Josh that he knew he was a praying man and that it was a work of God that they happened to be there exactly at that time. So, Josh tripping two times on his way to the car, was all part of the perfect timing of our incredible God. This was a fine-tuned rescue by the Sovereign God.

https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=josh%20sullivan%20kidnapping&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:3df28323,vid:kMr5H-kwNsc,st:0

Thinkful

As the world watches this news story and the TV interviews that followed with great interest, both Josh and his wife Meagan want to be very careful to give thanks to God. This was not the FBI or the CIA. This was not even “just a coincidence” as humans might try to call it. This was an answer to the prayers of thousands of people.

God rescued Josh!

We thank Him that it was His will for Josh to be released. We know that God is good all the time, and would be good even if there had been a different ending to this story. But this time God chose to free His servant and let him rejoin his wife and children. We thank Him. We praise Him. We rejoice in the gospel message going out all over the world through this event.

“Bring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.”

Psalm 142:7

Let us continue to pray for Josh and his family. Processing trauma takes time.

Pray specifically that they will hold their thoughts captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Pray for them to think on truth and not on “what if’s” (Philippians 4:8)
Pray for God to receive much glory from this miracle (Psalm 145:3)

A Knife At Her Throat

March 31, 2025March 31, 2025 / thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

The Attempted Hijacking

All four ladies were chatting pleasantly as they drove up to the intersection. Adaleen’s window was halfway down due to the hot temperatures outside. Out of nowhere the assailant’s hand reached in through the open window and pulled the keys out of the ignition, stalling the car. Shock gripped all the women. Adaleen crossed her hands on her chest and became completely still.

Her coworker in the front passenger seat quickly locked the doors as the assailant had forced the locks open. The war of unlock – lock went on for a second or two. Then the hijacker put a knife to Adaleen’s neck. She did not see the knife, but the passenger in the back saw it, and proceeded to throw her lunch pail at the man, which caught him off guard. At that very moment, a security guard drove up behind the car being hijacked. When the attackers saw the guard, they ran. The guy who had taken the keys threw them behind him as he ran.

A Guard’s Witness

The guard came up and checked on them. After telling him that no one was hurt, he asked them to drive up the road a bit to get out of this dangerous area. He wanted to chat with them. They did so. The guard said, “God protected you. I never come down this way, but for some reason I did today” (thank you, God!).

Wow! All four of the women were so shaken up. The one lady who had thrown her lunch pail, realized that her ID as well as her brother’s insulin medicine was in the pail that the men had taken. So they needed to go to a chemist (pharmacy) to get more medicine.

The Test of a Wrong Response

The first pharmacy was located right next to a liquor store. Adaleen was the only believer in the car. She is a young Christian who was baptized only last December, but before Christ, she struggled with sinful addictions. One of the other ladies said she would run over to the liquor store and buy some alcohol for Adaleen so she could stop shaking, but Adaleen said no, she would instead go home and talk to God to calm her.

That phamacy didn’t have the insulin needed so they had to go to a second pharmacy which was located right close to where Adaleen used to buy weed (marijuana). She was again tempted, but refused to run to those sources to cope. She dropped off her friends and headed home to her little flat, where she lives alone.

Th(i)nkful – The Right Response

That evening was the time that we normally met online for counseling, so a little after 7 pm, I got the whole story. Our church text group lit up with thankfulness and prayers for Adaleen because we were all sure that she wouldn’t sleep so well that night.

My heart was so touched with all that Adaleen had experienced just a short time earlier. As some of you may remember, I also experienced an attempted hijacking years ago in Johannesburg with my daughter Elly. When you have a traumatic experience like that, it is so easy to go right back to the emotions you experienced when you later hear a similar story. I sought to help Adaleen as much as I could. We read Scripture and we prayed. I shared what had been helpful for me to think about when I went through that test. Adaleen was shaken, but it was amazing to me that somehow this young believer was so fully conscious that the Lord had been with her and helped her.

I asked her to write down things that she was able to thank God for in the ordeal. I said to please send me screenshots of what she wrote down. Adaleen wrote down twenty different things for which she thanked God. She was able to go to sleep and even slept well. Praise You, Father!!!!

The next day Adaleen went to work again, and her co-workers could not believe how calm she was. They said she must be in denial or not processing the trauma correctly. Adaleen used the attention she had to give God all the glory. She said that God had saved her. God helped her. God had given her good sleep and was giving her peace.

The Aftermath

The aftermath of a very traumatic experience is delicate and important. To choose to take every thought captive is extremely difficult.

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”

2 Corinthians 10:5

It involves thousands of decisions. We can do the right thing initially – the first big decision is usually the hardest, but then the reinforcing echo-decisions are of critical importance.

I have found that having a friend to walk through that pivotal time is so helpful. Just touching base with a daily text on how things are going can be the thing needed to stay on track with choosing to think thanks.

Ataraxis, Not Anxiety

Ataraxis: (Ancient Greek), a state of tranquility, freedom from anxiety and mental disturbance

Ataraxis was a new word for me. I love the meaning. However, true tranquility can only come from one source! When Paul exhorts the Philippian believers to not be anxious, he wrote that they should instead pour out their specific burdens to the Lord with thanksgiving, and then the ataraxis of the Lord, which defies understanding (as it did with Adaleen’s coworkers) would keep, hem in, shield and protect them (Philippians 4:7).

I wonder if you have ever taken God up on His challenge in Philippians 4:6-7. When a new challenge comes your way, I urge you to try. It may not be an attempted hijacking with a knife at your throat, but whatever is trying to hijack your thoughts and lead you to despair, arrest it! Emotions are real but they are not reality. Still, they can be wild animals that continuously claw and bite at your soul.

Choose to take those thoughts captive. With strength and clarity, think thanks for God never leaving or forsaking you during the incident He chose in order to build your proven character. Thank Him for using every and all things to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-29). It may be a wresting match in your mind, but as you win with the Lord’s help, ataraxis comes. It may seem illusive at first through the fire and fog of the trial, but it will eventually come into focus.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Adaleen gave me permission to share her story

Hard Times Harder

December 30, 2024 / thinkfulkarin / 4 Comments

Can Hard Get Harder?

“Oh, no!” a friend cried out as she lost her balance and fell to the floor. Her left wrist caught her fall and yielded to a small bone fracture.

My dear friend ended up in the emergency room, had to have her ring cut off, and her left hand is now out of commission for four weeks, right during the holidays!

In a totally different part of the world my dear daughter in the Lord, Adaleen, also had a challenging Christmas. She went to worship with the church on Christmas Day and then returned to her tiny apartment and enjoyed Christmas all alone.

She writes:

It was so peaceful
Gave thanks to the Lord
Opened my gifts
I ate until I couldn’t move 😄
And then took a little nap🙏🏽

“The hardest time to go through a hard time is in the good times.”

David Brown

Another friend and coworker is missing a recently deceased spouse. The internal conflict of going through that first Christmas without a special someone is legendary.

Suffering a broken wrist when you want to serve others in the kitchen, or being alone at a time when family gathers, or navigating a joyful season when your life partner will no longer share it with you. These things are hard…..

……but even harder at Christmas.

Why Is It So Difficult?

We have an expectation inside of what is right and good, and when Christmas comes, and one or more of those conditions are not there, it exaggerates the pain. Imagine Christmas without any music. Or Christmas without any lights or decorations anywhere. It would just seem so wrong, downright disturbing and dystopian.

But play the music and put up decorations everywhere, and then imagine Christmas where you cannot participate in any meaningful way due to illness, injury, or responsibilities elsewhere, or Christmas without dear ones who have passed away. Again, it just seems wrong. The radiance of the Advent turns up the contrast on the darkness in your heart. I remember when my mom died that I didn’t want Christmas to come. I wanted to avoid it because it hurt so much.

I often think of the advice given to Ciara when she returned home from quadruple amputation last year. Her friend told her to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

She wanted to give up. It was too hard, but God gave her grace to pursue gratitude and trust in a sovereign God. She started to think thanks. Her slogan has become Always grateful.

You choose to think the right thoughts. It’s a work in progress. We fall. We get back up. We choose to be strong and let our hearts take courage, we who wait on the LORD (Psalm 31:24).

You download grace from the LORD’s inexhaustible storehouse to think thanks in every circumstance.

This is not easy! This is maturity above immaturity. This is warfare of the mind!

“I WILL offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the LORD.”

Psalm 116:17

It’s a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Sacrifices costs you something!!

Processing the Hard

You don’t ignore the pain. You are allowed to pour out your heart to the Lord. You can do it in anguish even, but run to Him with your pain and not away from Him. He wants to make you better, steadfastly faithful through this, more like His Son, Jesus.

Learning to search for thankful thoughts when you are sad and struggling is a feat indeed.

My friend Debbie, who broke her wrist did that. In fact, she found comfort and inspiration in Ciara’s godly response. How beautiful is that!!

Ciara and Debbie are both worshipping God with their gratitude in the midsts of their pain and frustration. It is like pouring fertilizer on their reward one day in heaven.

We don’t get to choose what kind of tests the Lord will take us through. He chooses our crosses. But we get to choose how we respond.

Having a friend to walk with you during these times is helpful. Just to express to that friend:

“Yes, it is hard, but I am choosing to think on truth.”

The Lord has not left me (Isaiah 43:2, Hebrews 13:5b)
It could have been worse (Revelation 16:17-21)
It will pass; even if it lasts as long as this earthly life, we are headed to a Celestial City where there is no more pain (Hebrews 11:14-16, 12:22-29, Revelation 21:4)
God’s Word is a rock of refuge to us (Psalm 71:3a)
Others may gain inspiration from me thinking thanks which in turn brings more glory to God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Embrace the Hard

I am challenging myself here, as well as seeking to inspire you, to not run away from the “hard,” but instead face it, run toward it, embrace it. You will get through it!!

Step by step, download grace. Cry out to the Lord for help and think thanks!

My two friends who are downloading grace to think thanks in their hard times.

The Earth Belongs to the Lord

October 28, 2024 / thinkfulkarin / 4 Comments

In What Do You Trust?

When the familiar is shaken and threatened, what do we do?

Many in Southeastern United States got the opportunity to experience that challenge recently.

Hurricane Helene was a devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread destruction and fatalities across the Southeastern United States in late September 2024. It caused over 230 deaths and hundreds are still missing. Thousands were without power for many, many days. People drowned, or were swept away. Many lost everything they owned because of flooding and erosion.

But how about you and me? How do we respond when health, employment, finances, relationships, cultures, or elections are swept away? In times of feeling shaken to the core, how do we process what is happening? Has God given us direction on what to do?

“Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” – Psalm 46:2-3

It seems frustrating to read a command that we not fear when we feel fear pumping through our bodies. Joshua felt scared entering Canaan. The disciples felt scared on a raging sea. We feel scared at times, and with good reason – I have faced guns, lions, charging elephants, and presidential elections here in South Africa. Fear is a natural response that God has built in to protect us.

On Second Thought

The ray of hope comes in what we choose to think as our second thought, in what we choose to meditate on as we fear and flee. What are the tent pegs that anchor our souls? How can we possibly think thanks in those situations?

1. God is sovereign. He controls the details, tiny and vast, of what is happening around me and to me, and can be trusted with what He allows. Nothing can happen to me outside of His control, and everything has been filtered through the sieve of His love for me.

“[The Most High] does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” – Daniel 4:35

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” – Romans 8:28-29

2. God promises He will never leave me or forsake me. He does not exempt me from storms, floods, and fires; sometimes He calls me to them. But always, He is with me as a teacher, comforter, coach, and helper.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” – Isaiah 43:1-3

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, see also Psalm 37:25-28

Th(i)nkful in the Storm

I am reading through the book of Job with a few people and have been again reminded of what the key is for Job in his horrible storm. He needed to get a good, clear view of how big our Creator God is (Job 38-42). What his friends needed to remind him of is that God is God and we may not understand all of His purposes and greater plans, but we can trust His character.

As I become confident of God’s compassion, graciousness, steadfast love and faithfulness to His own, I can pursue thinking thanks in all circumstances. I can find peace and calmness of soul though the storm may rage all around me. In Hebrews 11’s “Hall of Faith,” most of God’s people went through uprooting or some kind of storm of suffering. Many, like God’s Son, gave their lives in the center of God’s will and in the bull’s eye of God’s favor.

When my husband’s mom passed away, his brother Jeff shared with us a song by Casting Crowns that had been helpful for him as he grieved mom’s death.

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say amen
And it’s still raining
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I’ll raise my hands
And praise the God who gives
And takes away

[Chorus] And I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

Gathering My Thoughts During a Gale

What a comfort to remind ourselves that God has me in this storm by His design, with His purposes, and for His glory. He is fully aware of the details in my life. In fact, He is the author of, and sovereign over, those details.

A dear friend shared this as she is in the middle of a big storm in her life.

What great reminders in the middle of the storm that we can think thanks about.

The Lord calms storms.

“And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” – Matthew 8:26

The Lord is a shelter from the storm.

“For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat…” – Isaiah 25:4

We can hide under His wings till the storm passes.

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.” – Psalm 57:1

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty… He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge.” – Psalm 91:1, 4

The Lord will be with me in the storm and eventually bring me out of the storm.

“Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” – Psalm 107:28-29

It is better to fear the Lord than the storm; God wants me to focus on Him and to call on Him.

“… and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?'” – Luke 8:23-25

His Word Gives Perspective

Yes, I realize that I used A LOT of Scripture in this post. That is a key in storms. I must get above them, get up to God’s point of view. Run to the Word for help!! Feed on the Word, sing it, quote it out loud, memorize and meditate on the Word. God is our rock of refuge and we can run to Him continually.

Maybe it would be a good idea to write out some of these soul anchoring verses to remember.

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott

His Promises Give Life

September 16, 2024September 17, 2024 / thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

Psalm 119:50

Do you ever watch or listen to Joni and Friends? Recently, I was struggling with a headache. That is not unusual for me; I have had many headaches over the years. I was intrigued by the way Joni handled her pain. She described inviting the Lord Jesus to her pain. When the talons gripped her body, she would breathe deeply and run to Jesus for His view on things.

“This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your promise gives me life.”

Psalm 119:50

Meditating on the promises in God’s Word – that He is there with us, that He knows the details, that He cares about the pain and suffering, that He has sovereign purposes and plans – brings life, an ability to cope, even thrive, and have hope. What a beautiful thought that is! God loves us and meets us in our difficulties as well as our joys, if we invite Him to them.

Thanking God for the Affliction

In Psalm 119, there is another text that deals with affliction.

“If Your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have given me life.”

Psalm 119:92-93

The Psalmist expresses gratitude for God’s law and His precepts because without them he would have perished.

Do I know how to be thankful for my affliction?

Seems so wrong to give thanks for things that are so hard. But I remember how James admonishes me to count it joy when I have different trials (James 1:2-4).

“There is a purpose for the suffering.”

Dr. Santie McCracken, Grace-Toti ladies’ Bible study on I Peter

What kind of purpose could God possibly have in my suffering?

Oh, the answers are multiple. We know from His Word that God’s goal in our lives is to conform us to the image of His dear Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). That is the “good” mentioned in Romans 8:28 toward which God is orchestrating everything that happens to us. The heat of the suffering is an excellent tool that can help accomplish that goal. There are more reasons. Here are a few to consider:

God is justly allowing sin’s curse on the earth to take its natural course, the earth is broken and longing for redemption.
God is refining me, freeing me from some vice and building virtue in me (the greater good)
God is jolting me to get me really searching for Him in prayer and in the Bible.
God is equipping me to be a compassionate comfort and strength to others.
God is equipping me for greater service; expanding the scope of my influence.
God is freeing me from trust and dependence of things, teaching me that He is the only thing I should hold on to.
God is opening a door for me to share my faith and show God’s love.
God wants me to long for a better place – this is not our home.
God is privileging us to share in His suffering
God is increasing our rewards – glory in heaven is directly linked to suffering well now.
God is demonstrating that He can sustain and keep His children faithful.

What Promises Do You Cling to?

No doubt you also have some sort of affliction. It is seemingly impossible to go through this life with no kind of affliction. You may have grown accustomed to processing things well with thanksgiving and can’t really think of any affliction at the moment. That is fantastic! But most of us have some type of difficulty that God is using to shape us.

I wonder what promises you cling to in God’s Word as you endure those afflictions? Perhaps it is a hymn or song that brings comfort. I want to encourage you to have your stash of truths ready to go when needed. Hide verses and edifying songs in your heart so that at any time they can be called on to build you up in the Lord.

The biggest promise that never fails is that soon our “Blessed Hope” will come for us.

“waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”

Titus 2:13

One day all pain will be gone. How can I say that? Because of Revelation 21:4.

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Psalm 119:67, 71, 75

Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word.

It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.

I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous,
and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

Job 35:16

He delivers the afflicted by their affliction
and opens their ear by adversity.

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

Even in the Cesspool

March 14, 2022March 21, 2022 / thinkfulkarin / 4 Comments

Not the Cesspool!

It smells so bad! Could a person actually get used to toxic odors and it not bother him anymore? Recently I learned about an imprisoned brother who was given the grace to actually overcome the horrid smells of a cesspool and find reasons to be thankful for it.

Chen Min Lin lived during a time and place in history where it was illegal to talk about his personal conversion and the Bible. This pastor shared his faith … to a fault some would say. He was incarcerated for 18 years for this crime. After many years, he was assigned to the dreaded cesspool duty. He felt that he had been given a death sentence.

How could he possibly serve God in the cesspool of this prison, trudging around in a field of filth? But the stink of this field had one distinct advantage (pun intended). He was alone. He would always be alone, and no one would disturb him. And so, it was there in the most awful place that he found communion with his Creator. He would pray, lift up his hands, sing to the Lord, and commune with Him right there in the cesspool as he worked.

It became a treasured place to walk and talk with the Lord, even while cleaning the cesspool. (*Click on his name to watch the short video describing his joy of finding joy even in the cesspool*.)

How I View My Challenges

How do we view heavy challenges that come our way? I know how quickly I am tempted to complain. Yesterday I was struggling through sitting in a very hot church service. It was a fiery day in the mid-nineties outside and our church was going through load-shedding with no power. So not even the fan would work. I was listening to David teaching a Bible college course for four hours in the afternoon.

As I sweated and tried to fan myself with a paper, I realized how easy it was for me to get irritated with something as little as heat. What about all the Ukrainian believers who are right now freezing to death and starving, going weeks without bathing? My endurance surely was quite lacking. 😦

Oh, how good it is to view our challenges with God’s eyes.

James gives us a great perspective. Hard times build endurance and fully-outfitted maturity:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.“
James 1:2-4

New Resolve

So whatever my hard thing is presently, thank you, Lord!

These difficulties have a purpose. They are shaping me. God is using the difficulties to create something beautiful in me … if I will allow Him to do that! In some cases, the hard thing ends up being a growth point, or a growth era, in my life. Though I may hate it now, I will look back and see glory in the cesspool … where my gray prison walls were exchanged for a radiant sun and gentle breezes … where a kaleidoscope of watching eyes were exchanged for the freedom of being alone with 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. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:15-18

Help me, Lord God (Simakade in isiZulu), to worship you on the pathways you have chosen for me. You may call me to cesspool duty. You may call me to endure the trauma and unspeakable losses of war. You may call me to a dithering and withering job. You may call me to a disappointing and discouraging marriage. You may call me to something as simple as sweating in a hot African church. But as you choose my path, also choose your largest vial of grace and pour it out on my soul to see Your fingerprints, Your opportunities, Your promises, and Your image being formed in my person.

“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.”
C.S. Lewis

Everything…in All Things

December 9, 2021 / thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

Very, Very Close

Jerry Bridges is one of my favorite authors. His classic, Trusting God, devotes the last chapter to ‘Giving Thanks Always.’ I just re-read that this morning as I am going through this book with a young lady that I am mentoring. Here, at the very end of his exhorting us to trust God even when life hurts, he emphasizes the importance of thinking thanks.

“The basis for giving thanks in the difficult circumstances is all we have been learning about God in this book: His sovereignty, wisdom, and love, as they are brought to bear upon all the unexpected and sudden shifts and turns in our lives. In short, it is the firm belief that God is at work in all things – all our circumstances – for our good.”
Jerry Bridges

The words “in everything” from I Thessalonians 5:18 and “in all circumstances” in Romans 8:28 are very, very close in the Greek and even in English. It is precisely because I can trust that God is working all circumstances together for my good – chiseling, sanding, poking, heating, smoothing and varnishing me – to make me like Jesus, that I can give thanks in everything.

Thanksgiving, the Opposite of Pride

When you give thanks, you are admitting that you received something. You needed something, and then you received it … and so you acknowledge the help, you throw the credit to another person. You are confessing that you are not self-sufficient. You have been dependent. You are a debtor.

While many nonbelievers feel and express their thankfulness, the world’s value system struggles with thankfulness, instead emphasizing what we lack, or mythically claiming that our own inner resources brought us success. Thankfulness toward God is especially set at naught because He is not truly a part of their worldview; they are trying to suppress any recollection of Him.

“Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
Romans 1:21

For those of us who have trusted in Christ alone for our salvation, we are different. Our worldview says that God is close, that He knows and cares, that He sovereignly ordains and orchestrates all our circumstances for our good and His glory. If the trial was no longer developing our good and His glory, it would immediately end. We should feel inwardly compelled to give thanks! Part of the sanctification process started at salvation is to renovate our fleshly tendency of ingratitude into a spirit of gratitude as a fruit of the Spirit working in us.

We humble ourselves before God and cast our anxieties on Him because he cares for us (I Peter 5:6-7). We accept the adversities with His help and give thanks even for “thorns” – the pains, the delays, the heartaches, the frustrations – that come our way. As Thomas Brooks wrote years ago, we should be “mute Christians under the smarting rod,” except for giving the thanks we give for the design in the disaster.

God is Good at Being God

The foundation for how we can think thanks in all circumstances is that we trust a sovereign God. He can handle our trust. He is good at being God. 🙂 Oh, that I would be quick to get to this point.

Always look for the fingerprints. They are all over the place. He is the Master Artist and is taking all the pieces of my life and putting it together for his glory. I can praise Him even when I don’t see the full picture yet. It will be so good.

“The way to cast our anxieties on the Lord is through humbling ourselves under His sovereignty and then trusting Him in His wisdom and love.”
Jerry Bridges

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

The Power of Reflection

December 28, 2018 / thinkfulkarin / 11 Comments

Being Hijacked at Gunpoint

When we moved to South Africa to help plant a church in 1995, Johannesburg was a war zone with more than a thousand car hijacking per month at gunpoint. A year later it was my turn. My 4-year-old daughter Elly and I were held up in a hijacking attempt in our own driveway on a Friday night.

I can still see clearly the man with the pistol, his two accomplices flanking both sides of the car wanting to steal our vehicle. It was awful. I scolded him from inside the locked car and laid on the horn. No help came. It was truly a miracle that we were not both shot dead right there in our driveway, but it was not our time to go. We survived.

But when you experience trauma, the trauma is not over with the experience. I had to relive it a thousand times, retell the story a thousand times. This compulsive reflection backward on traumatic incidents opens up a huge key to the discipline of being th(i)nkful. Your reflection can make the original incident better or worse.

Objective Experience vs. Subjective Experience

I stumbled over an interesting concept recently while reading The Happiness Advantage, by Shawn Achor. He shares how there are many ways to help promote happiness in our lives. Oddly enough, happiness does not come from outside stimuli but is built from within our brains depending on how we shape our brain’s neural pathways. We can create happiness even within difficult circumstances. His use of the term “post-traumatic growth” especially fascinated me.

When a person goes through a traumatic experience, that person experiences the happening objectively at first. But the later subjective re-experiencing of the happening is what I want to focus on. We relive notable experiences many, many times. It is in this subjective replay of the original experience where the key lies. You can choose how you relive an experience.

My Own Battle

As I reeled through my own subjective re-experiencing of the hijacking over and over, one of the keys to healing was to rehearse my gratitude for how God helped me through every part of that test.

God had prepared me earlier in the day by rehearsing a lot of verses about fear with a girl I was counseling;
Neither Elly nor I were touched, hurt, shot, or killed;
They didn’t get our car (that time);
We had just filled up the car – they didn’t steal a car with a full tank!
We had a short-term missionary’s bags in the back – they didn’t steal a car with a luggage bonus!
God caused them fear and confusion when our gate started to close on its timer;
Elly and I got in the house and locked up while they were regrouping;
Although they jumped the wall and tried to get in, they never did;
We were privileged to be attacked by the evil one because God was transforming the lives of people through the gospel;
We had a sense that God was right there with us.

God’s grace in helping me to be th(i)nkful as I reflected on the trauma provided me with post traumatic growth. My faith-walk with the Lord actually grew stronger.

A Challenge

As we leave 2018 and move into the brand new year of 2019 in a few days, I would like to challenge you to make a simple “thank you” part of your living. As you process daily things, as well as work through things of the past, insert a simple “thank you.” Let God help you to develop eyes to see not only all His blessings, for which you can be grateful, but also to see His designs in the dark places, because He is there too. And having His hand hold you through a valley of shadows is a cause for deeper gratitude as you get to know His ways, and heart, and character, and purposes more deeply.

At first you may feel awkward and clumsy in how to express this thankfulness, but don’t give up. Keep on forging that pattern of looking for things to think thanks for. It will bring a cupboard full of blessings for you. Just image this time next year reading through a notebook of daily things that you were th(i)nkful for. I can promise you that you will be edified and encouraged. Life will serve you hard things in 2019, no doubt, but as you move those things through the sieve of giving thanks to God for everything, you will grow.

“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” Colossians 1:11-12