Thankfulness
By Tyler
Harrington
What does God
mean in scripture to be thankful? Why
should I be thankful when my son is fighting for his life and hasn’t even been
born? Why should I be thankful that my
wife’s abdomen is so stretched she can’t even walk, sleep, or even roll over?
She is in intense pain, battling the anxious thought that our son could die
inside of her or shortly after giving birth.
We are so helpless, why be thankful?
These were
questions that were running through my head a few days ago. I sat in the hospital bed, lackadaisical,
just wasting time watching Netflix. Then
I heard the news, Ollie had fluid in his belly where it shouldn’t be. From what I remember from medical school that
mean he only had about a 25% chance of survival. For the first time, I hit my knees in prayer. It saddened me at that moment, that it took
the very real thought of loosing him for me to actually turn to God. Every time the Doctor said “This is looking
pretty bleak,” God kept saying “It is my
face you should seek.” The survival odds
got better with each negative test, and I was reassured by my wife saying “God
has knit this child together in my womb just the way he wanted him to be.” God comforted me with the revelation that He
doesn’t operate under the limitations of odds ratios and bleak outlooks. I was starting to see something to be
thankful for.
Having left for
the hospital in a hurry, I did not bring my bible. Now in the midst of a war I was craving God’s
word more then ever. When I asked our
friend, she lent me her Bible without hesitation. As I turned through the pages, I was able to
see the many ways God had worked in her life and lessons she had been
taught. It was her personal bible that
she had spent years highlighting and reading. It was so encouraging to see that
God knows us each individually and meets each of us where we are at. He is big enough to do that. I flipped through the pages and started
reading one of my daughter’s favorite passages, Dan 6, Daniel and the Lion’s
Den. The Lord showed me something in 6:10. After the King had made the edict if anyone
worships someone other then the king, that person shall be thrown into the lion’s
den. Daniels response:
When Daniel
knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had
windows in his upper room open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day
and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. Dan 6:10
Did you catch
that, a law came down that would surely sentence him to being kitty food and he
gave God thanks. His faith in God was
not changed by the trial, he did what he always did. Daniel went to speak with his Father, he gave
thanks in the midst of the trial. I am
reminded of Romans 8:28:
And we know that in all things God
works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his
purpose.
If you look at the end of Daniel 6,
the king, having seen God’s power in action and Daniel’s faith, makes a new
declaration:
26 “I make a decree, that in
all my royal dominion people are to tremble before the God of Daniel, for he is
the living God, enduring forever;
his kingdom shall never be
destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues;
he works signs and wonders
in heaven and on earth,
he who has saved Daniel from
the power of the lions.”
So I echo
that statement to myself and all who are reading this. As we trust God, as we press forth into the
unknown, as we continually lift up Ollie and Brandi to only one who can save them. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Amen!
Thank you
for joining us in this battle. I look
forward to the testimony that God is building in us and through us, no matter
the outcome. And most of all… I look forward to introducing you to our son.
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