Inspirational Insights: Transformed by subtraction
Ephesians 5:20, “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Have you ever looked up how many verses in the Bible relate to thanking God for all he has given or done for us? Well, let me tell you…there’s a lot. James 1:7, Psalm 103:2, 2 Corinthians 9:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Philippians 4:16, Daniel 2:23, Colossians 3:15, Philemon 1:4, and Psalm is almost a whole book of thankfulness and thanksgiving. This is just a small percentage of verses that talk about being thankful to God in the Holy Word of God.
There are times, however, when we don’t feel thankful; until a problem is over and we realize that we still have more than we deserve to be thankful for.
Monday morning we woke up to no water; not a drop. There had been a major water break in town and everyone was feeling the setback. Those getting ready for work couldn’t shower, those with Monday wash loads had to be put on hold, and if you didn’t have some bottled water around you couldn’t brush your teeth or make coffee. And don’t even think of going to the bathroom without enough water around to flush.
Around 4:30 p.m. we finally got to turn the faucets back on and a glorious stream of water came pouring out. Toilets got flushed and you could put the hand sanitizer off to the side until needed again.
Karen Barber, in Daily Guideposts 2000, tells us about the time they got to church one Sunday morning and there was no electricity. She thought for sure they would cancel, seeing as the organ wouldn’t produce music for the singing. How could they hear the minister without his microphone, and how could the choir sing in the loft without any light?
A few minutes later, two men wheeled in a piano. The choir moved from the loft and arranged themselves on a stairway where the sunlight shone in the sanctuary from the side door. The minister spoke a little louder and was easy to hear as it resonated through the building.
For all that had gone bad, it turned out to be fantastic. They had music, the choir sang, and the minister presented a wonderful sermon. Not even the darkness kept them from worshipping the Lord. In fact it will probably be the one Sunday that will be talked about the most. She realized that God’s presence was there all the more powerful; not despite the darkness, but because of it.
She stated, “I had always assumed that God makes things new by adding something. Now I understood that things can also be transformed by subtraction”.
After our water came back on I realized also that, by that subtraction of water, I worked on a project I’d been meaning to do for a long time. I got some junk drawers cleaned out that was over-flowing, and I did some reading that I’d been putting off for a long time.
I know that many of you didn’t but, at night during my prayers, I thanked God for the interruption of the water in order for other things to get done.
Was it an inconvenience? Of course! But sometimes we have to have a few inconveniences to recognize and be thankful for the blessings we have.
Look around. Wherever you are, you will see you are surrounded by more blessings than you can count.
Be on the look-out for those things that happen that are “transformed by subtraction”. They will happen, but how will you respond to them?
(Per request: This week we are praying for people on MacDonaldton Road and Slaco Road in the Berlin area. Please remember them in your prayers this week. If you have any street requests for prayer please send them to me at the email below.)
(Nancy Stoppe of Jenners is affiliated with Jenner Township Baptist Church, Boswell. She can be contacted at stoppe123@comcast.net.)
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Nancy Stoppe column about thanking God for all he has given
