Gratitude in All Experiences
This is Heart of the Matter Short Show, out of Salt Lake City, Utah. I’m your host Shawn McCraney. Before I get into the contents I invite all of you to make sure you tune in Tuesday Night, March 2nd as I address the Ravi Zacharias story from a very different approach.
Show 21s Grateful for it All
Taped February 28th, 2021
Aired Monday March 1st, 2021
So, being in ministry to the LDS I have heard many of them bemoan the fact that they “grew up in the church, were duped by its doctrines and false history, and gave so much time, attention and money to the cause." I used to be of the same opinion, wondering what I could have accomplished had I not had to go through the process of leaving that church for Christ. The same is true with many people who are ridden with guilt for years of alcohol or drug addiction, for those who are angry for unfaithful spouses, or over the fact that they lost someone dear to them at a young age. Regrets – for sins, for short-comings, anger for unfortunate events, accidents, life-altering moments. Despair over wasted or lost time.
From a human perspective, I get it. We want to be profitable and make the most of the life we have been given. But as I have aged and look back on the life that God has given me, I am more and more filled with gratitude for ALL that He has allowed me to face, endure, experience and even suffer, because in these things, I have become the man that I am. In such things, He developed traits of character that would otherwise not be present without them.
Challenges and Growth
I know that many people say, sort of as a way to cope, but I really think that it's important, as people of faith, to try and develop an attitude that accepts this as the reality. It can be very difficult. And depending on the challenges faced I can understand why some people enter into bitterness, and faithlessness, and despair. But from the perspective of faith in Him, it seems to me to be the only approach that truly honors him and His ways.
Having worked through this myself, I now am so very, very grateful that God had me born into an LDS home. It brought me perspectives and structures that I would not have otherwise had. I am grateful that I was sexualized as a very young child, that I had early obsessions with women as a result, and that I came into existence with very faulty wiring – how else could I praise Him for the healing in my soul when He did?
Eternal Perspective
I’m grateful for the times that I’ve had some very important items taken from me physically, my Bible that I had worked years on to create massive notations, my laptop that contained thousands of ideas, writings, shows and scripts – stolen out from under my nose and gone forever. My older brother, taken in the prime of his life. These things caused immediate angst and pain, but looking back all things have worked together for my good, for perspective, for understanding – because He was there, in it, working out the pain for growth.
From a human perspective it can be really difficult to be rejected, fired, unemployed, sexually abused, controlled, tricked and lied to, and mistreated. But from an eternal perspective, and in the name of forging our character, I am grateful to Him – for His wisdom, love and care to push me through the fires, so as to come out tempered on the other side.
I hope if you are dealing with anger, bitterness, despair over lost time, opportunities and painful experiences, that you too can try to bring Him in to it all, and to let him work things out . . . for your good.
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