Listen Now
Sometimes life is hard. Things happen; loss of a job, home, friend or loved one, can’t pay the bills, a betrayal, sickness, addiction…serious things that can discourage and overwhelm us. The Pilgrims also had a rough way to go. They went through very bad hardship sailing across the vast ocean to find a new life in a wild and uncertain land, just to face more challenges trying to survive. How did they persevere and flourish?
Debbie, have you had some hard times?
I’d say all of the “Top Ten” most stressful life experiences have knocked on my door!
There was a period of time stretching over ten years when it felt like life couldn’t get any worse. Our 2-year-old son was hit by a car and sustained a serious head injury; we moved with four small children to another state; my husband went back to college: the first day of school he hit a child with his car and causing that child’s head injury, suffering an emotional breakdown and panic attacks; financial hardship; bankruptcy; another son diagnosed with a bone tumor; our daughter having emergency appendectomy; my father died, moving again, starting new jobs. At the worst of it I actually contemplated ending it all…
What changed?
I experienced divine intervention when God stopped me from running my car into a tree.
Really? What was going on?
I was so depressed and scared, overwhelmed. One day while driving alone on a country road in Indiana, I thought, “Just drive into that tree and end this.” But as my tires left the pavement and hit the gravel, all at once I felt a strong tug on the steering wheel – pulling me back onto the road. It wasn’t me … I believe it was God! I was very shaken afterward yet also filled with a sense of awe and peace.
Since then there have been many other challenges to face. However during those ten years of intense stress, I came to the end of myself and stopped asking God “Why?” Instead, I began to practice the power of thanking God for anything and everything I could honestly feel thankful for. It changed my outlook, adjusted my feelings, and truly saved my life.
The Pilgrims had a secret weapon. It was the power of “thank you”. Everyday they would begin by thanking God for life, freedom, safety and opportunity in the new world. Yes, there were plenty of things going wrong, but by digging deep into their hearts the Pilgrims found even more to truly be thankful for. Their attitude of gratitude gave them inner strength, and God blessed them by sending the native Americans to provide food, help in planting crops, and building a new life.
I also use this secret weapon throughout the day, thanking God for everything large or small that I am grateful for; hearing, sight, physical abilities, faith, family, friends, food, blue sky…the list goes on and on. It’s quite amazing to experience the transformation as my mind and emotions find hope and peace, instead of focusing on my problems!
In the New Testament of the Bible (Philippians 4:8) we are encouraged to think about things that are “true, honest, pure, lovely, of good report, with virtue, and praise-worthy”. Try it for yourself. Start your own “thank you” list today. It will become your secret weapon against discouragement and despair. It simply works, and God will bless your life as a result.
