In the midst of frantically trying to do the many things required before going on outreach for a month, our fridge died. We had wondered if it was having problems for a couple days but hoped it would stay cool enough. Tuesday it was very obviously not cool enough. At first I was pretty calm and not too worried as there were more pressing matters - such as purchasing plane tickets for imminent travel. Ty and I figured out a plan pretty quickly and decided how to solve the problem. A few people were helping us and that made me pause in thankfulness. However, as we went forward I let someone else's attitude influence mine. As I was driving to a worship dance class I take, I could feel the negative critical thoughts begin to come. However, God helped me recognize it for what it was - an attack by the enemy. Instead I began to praise God out loud for who He is. Then I began to thank him for anything I could think of related to the situation with the fridge. Keep in mind this was all out loud while driving by myself! I found things to thank God for such as: that I live in a country where we have fridges and the food to keep in them and the electricity to run them; that we aren't hungry; that the freezer portion was working as cold as a fridge so our food didn't spoil we just had to move it over and fill our outside freezer and so on. I felt my heart truly being grateful to my Heavenly Father and in that moment heard myself pray and ask God to bless us in the getting of a new fridge.
Now maybe that's a prayer you pray often. I don't. In fact, I can't remember praying for God to bless me with something. I pray that for others. I believe that for others! I know God is a good Father who desires to bless us and give us good things. I just don't see him that way in relation to me. This realization was a bit startling to me. So I followed that prayer with one of asking Him to help me believe He wanted to bless us. I asked Him to bless us indeed in the fridge and even more than that for me to see Him for the loving good Father that He is. This was no "name it and claim it" kind of moment. This was a gut-check reality that I was blatantly disbelieving an aspect of God's character that Jesus himself tells us about.
Well, a couple days went by and Ty and I were finishing up some of the necessary work responsibilities and travel prep that had been hanging over us. We figured Friday we could have time to work on the fridge situation. Thursday afternoon I opened the mail and there was a check for the amount we had figured we could spend and get something decent without killing our budget. A friend had wanted to send money this summer and while she felt terrible it had been so long, God knew just when we needed it. I texted her the story of the dying fridge and we both praised God for His all-knowing plan. I had sort of forgotten about the blessing part. Granted, I for sure saw the money as God's hand and His provision. I didn't think of it in terms of blessing though. So to get my attention, he didn't stop there. The next morning when I was checking messages I had one from a friend. I'd briefly mentioned Friday would be fridge shopping for us and what does she say? Her mom just surprised them with a new fridge for their anniversary and did we want theirs. Free! Ok, at that moment I was smacked with the blessing of God!
I wonder how many times my attitude is not one of gratefulness for the tough situations that come our way. In those times, how many of them is God wanting to bless me but I'm too focused on the problem to even seek Him and His blessing for His glory? I pray as you stop to think about what you are grateful for today on Thanksgiving, that you seek to be thankful for who God is, not just for all the stuff and things of good situations.
Happy Thanksgiving!