gratitude

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We’ve all encountered someone who later turned out to be much different than we originally thought. Maybe they presented as the perfect, compassionate friend only to turn on us when we didn’t meet their expectations. Or perhaps the opposite occurred and we assumed someone was shallow or selfish or irresponsible, only to discover, when life became hard, they showed themselves to be steady, present, and unshakable.

It’s so easy to misjudge someone and assign selfish motives or ill intent. For years, I did this to my husband, and it nearly destroyed our marriage. He and I are different in so many ways, including how we receive and express love. I’m a “quality time” person who measures the health of our relationship based on the depth of our conversations. He’s a provider and protector at heart whom will spend hours if not days searching for that perfect gift and earning the income to provide it.

Not being a “gift” person, I not only didn’t understand this, but in my misunderstanding, I assumed his motives were as opposite to truth as possible. In my thinking, he loved his job more than my daughter and I and was merely buying us presents or trinkets to appease us. But then we went through a difficult financial period and I watched him sacrifice time, energy, sleep—everything—for us. I’ve seen this again and again. When times become difficult, his inner hero emerges, casting out all doubt regarding who he is and the depth of his love.

We see the true nature and affections of a person during difficult circumstances, or as a former publishing colleague once put it, “Squeeze a sponge and what’s inside comes out.” Likely we can all attest to the truth in that statement, not just in regard to others, but in relation to Christ as well.

I’ve shared previously how my view of God has shifted over the years. The more I come to know Him, the clearer His heart becomes. Through difficulties, upheavals, and uncertainties, He’s revealed misconceptions and allowed my faslehoods to surface so that my heart can become, ever-deeper, anchored in truth. When it felt as if my world were spinning out of control, He held me and worked my chaos to good. When it seemed as if everyone else had abandoned me, He remained and drew me close. When bitterness welled within and even my prayers turned angry, He spoke words of love to my breaking heart.

Again and again, through hard times and good, God has shown me His love and faithfulness are beyond anything I could expect or imagine. However, He’s revealed Himself most clearly through the cross. If I ever doubt who He is and how He feels, not just about me but for all His creation, may God remind me, afresh, of the price He paid. May that dark moment in history forever be a beacon to my heart and yours, a reminder of who Christ is at His core.

In John chapter 13, shortly before His death, Jesus gathered His disciples close and explained to them all that was to come. “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with Me will betray Me” He said (v. 23, NLT). “For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago” (v. 24, NLT). What’s more, “All of you will desert Me” (Mark 14:27a, NLT). He told them He was going to die but that He would also rise again.

After His betrayer had left, Jesus said to His precious friends, “Now is the Son glorified and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify the Son in Himself, and will glorify Him at once” (John 13:31, NIV).

Christ was glorified on and through the cross, an act that Scripture reveals as “the very lowest point of His degradation” but which “John’s gospel always represents as the very highest point of His glory.” For the cross glorified Christ “in two ways. It was the revelation of His heart; it was the throne of His sovereign power” (MacLaren).

This is what it means to be glorified, edoxasthē in the original Greek. It’s ascribing God His true value and recognizing or acknowledging Him for who He truly is and honoring Him in that.

On the cross, we see Jesus’ unchanging nature: the victorious, self-sacrificing God who loves His children fiercely and will stop at nothing to draw us close. In His resurrection, we see His sovereignty over death and sin.

Through Christ’s horrific death, God the Father and God the Son received clear and immeasurable glory, casting a beam of truth and grace upon all mankind.

And now that we’ve seen Him for who He truly is, He invites us to live in that truth. To live changed, for Christ’s grace and truth, when received, always lead to transformation, so that we too, His redeemed children, are revealed in how we live and love.

Or to put is perhaps more simply: Jesus showed who He truly is and the depth of His love through sacrifice. I must do the same.

Let’s talk about this! How often do you pause to contemplate all Christ did on the cross and what that reveals about Him? When has His death and resurrection felt most real to you?

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Speaking of thoughts that produce gratitude and praise … YouVersion has recently released Jennifer Slattery’s Bible reading plan, Bible reading plan imageCultivating a Thankful Heart–just in time for Thanksgiving! You can check it out HERE.

 

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Messy RemodelChaos and confusion make me nervous. I like Well-orchestrated plans, and when those plans actually happen. When things appear to come unraveled, I go running for my to-do list, anxious to manage the mess. Unfortunately, life is not always that easily contained or cleaned up. But as my sweet friend Shannon Taylor Vannatter shares, sometimes God allows the mess … and for a beautiful reason.

When Our Messes Reveal Our Blessings
by Shannon Taylor Vannatter

Sometimes it takes a mess to experience gratitude.

I’ve talked online lately about our major remodel. We’re swapping three rooms around including the kitchen. We also got a new roof and heat pump, plus a room addition – a closet and my office. Yay!!!! We’re doing most of the remodeling ourselves along with finishing out the closet and office.

Since the work never seems to stop, my husband and I are exhausted. And our many jobs have multiplied. The electrician had to cut into our drywall in the new kitchen to add wiring for appliances. Therefore, I had to replaster one entire wall.

For a while two rooms of furniture were smashed into one with a narrow walking trail around it. This makes it almost impossible to put pine planking on our vaulted ceiling. As I write this, most of our kitchen is completed but the plumbing isn’t hooked up yet. That’s tomorrow’s project.

And the list goes on.

The carpenter had to knock out our rock foundation to connect our addition. Completing my office isn’t even on the agenda while we focus on keeping our pipes from freezing and getting our main living area in functional condition.

Suffice it to say, our house is a mess. But in the midst of our disorder, four things put everything into perspective:

Odd sized windows to replace old, breezy ones and my kitchen sink had to be ordered. We waited and waited for the arrival date, but neither showed. We joked about our items coming on a slow boat from China. Lowe’s apologized and said all the hurricane victims were getting precedence on shipments of building supplies.

My house may be a mess. But I have a house.

One of our church members was diagnosed with cancer. Too late for treatment. Days ago, my husband visited her in the hospital. She was unresponsive with her grieving spouse holding her hand. We realized that poor man’s house was in a mess as the woman God gave him was shantiesslowly and painfully ripped from this life.

Our bedroom end of the house was cold for a few days until the heat and air people added vents to the addition.

People in third world countries don’t have a heat and air guy.

My kitchen sink still isn’t hooked up. It’s amazing how crippling not having water to cook and clean with is.
Sixty percent of the population don’t have indoor plumbing.

So as we dig out from under our rubble, I’ll try not to complain or feel overwhelmed. Instead, I’ll count my blessings along the way.

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Award winning author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter writes contemporary Christian cowboy romance and has over a dozen published titles. A romance reader since her teens, she hopes to entertain Christian women and plant seeds in the non-believer’s heart as she demonstrates that love doesn’t conquer all—Jesus does.

She gleans fodder for her fiction in rural Arkansas where she spent her teenage summers working the concession stand with her rodeo announcing dad and married a Texan who morphed into a pastor. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her husband and son, flea marketing, and doing craft projects.

Connect with her: Shannon’s Facebook, Shannon’s Goodreads, Shannon’s Pinterest, Shannon’s Twitter, and Shannon’s Amazon Author Page.

More about her latest release, A Texas Holiday Reunion:

His Christmas Homecoming 

With her foreman out of commission, Resa McCall needs horse trainer Colson Kincaid to run her family ranch through the holidays. But having the handsome single dad back in Bandera, Texas, is unsettling. Colson broke Resa’s heart years ago, and she can’t risk getting close again. Still, working with him and bonding with his sweet little girl is making the ranch feel merry and bright. Being at Resa’s side stirs up emotions Colson thought were long gone. But he has a powerful secret that could keep them apart forever. Can Colson give Resa the one Christmas present that might finally bring them back together—the truth?

Get your copy now:

 A Texas Holiday Reunion on Christianbook                 A Texas Holiday Reunion on Amazon

Let’s talk about this! Are you a neat and tidy type of person or do you thrive on change? I’m neither, but I’m also not a huge fan of mess or chaos. When my house feels chaotic, so do I. When life feels chaotic, I tend to clean and organize. And, unfortunately, get hung up on a lot of minor details, potentially losing sight of all the blessings God’s provided. What about you? What resonated most as you read Shannon’s post? When has God used a messy and chaotic environment to point you to a deeper truth? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Before you go, I invite you to join me at Crosswalk where I shared ways we can find strength in Christ. You can read that HERE.

Monday, I stopped in at Wholly Loved to share my thoughts on God’s favor and what that looks like when life gets hard. You can read that HERE.

If you’ve enjoyed today’s post and want to receive more great content sent free, directly to your inbox, then sign up for my quarterly newsletter. You can do so HERE. (Subscribers will receive a free, 36-lesson Bible study based on 1 Timothy titled Developing a Life of Love and Faith. I’ll be sending that out soon!)