Last week, my daughter and son-in-law had both of their cars stolen in the middle of the night. Such events are disheartening and make us angry. However, after Kelli texted us to let us know what happened to them, the words of the late Matthew Henry came to mind.
Matthew Henry was born in 1662. He was a preacher, and you may know of him because of the commentary on the Bible he wrote. The reason his words came to mind was because Matthew Henry was once robbed by some thieves. Upon reflecting of the events that happened to him that night, he sat down and recorded his thoughts in his daily journal. Here is the entry that he wrote in his journal that night.
“Let me be thankful. First, I was never robbed before. Second, although they took my purse, they didn’t take my life. Third, although they took my all, it was not much. Fourth, let me be thankful because it was I who was robbed and not I who did the robbing.”
What an amazing attitude he had! Is possessing such an attitude really possible? Can we actually find a reason to be happy when our circumstances in life are crumbling down all around us? Yes! Absolutely, yes!
While I hated that their cars were stolen, I thanked God that neither Kelli, Justin, or Xavier were harmed. As Christians, we have so much for which to be thankful. If you find yourself overcome with worry, regret, and fear, you need to refocus your thinking. Don’t dwell on what you lost; dwell on what you have. God has been so good to us, and no one or nothing can take that away from us. Because of God, we are able to find joy and happiness when times are good, and we are able to find joy and happiness when we’re disappointed, hurting, and even dying. Because of God’s goodness, we have the ability to obey Paul’s command: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).