One of my main duties here includes being on call for Rebecca during the night and helping shift her body in the middle of the night to keep her comfortable. This provides the opportunity for precious time with Rebecca, but it is also often during the night that she experiences more pain.
During one of these shifts I was called down around 4:00 am. As I was adjusting Rebecca's blankets and helping make her comfortable she made a comment about disliking how her hand cramps up I was half listening (remember it was 4:00 am) until she dropped one of her many nuggets of insights that I will never forget. She said, "there are lots of things I don't like.....(pause) and I need to thank Jesus for them".
It is so easy for me to daily make a list of things I don't like. Recently that would have included exasperating professors, annoying drivers, grumpy customers, tired feet etc. But my list looks flimsy in comparison to Rebecca's which could include being paralyzed from the neck down, yet she chooses to thank God for all the things she doesn't like. Like Paul in Philippians 4:12,13 she has "learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want" because she finds her strength in God.
I believe I got a glimpse of that secret of being content in any and every situation, that secret includes thanking God for all the things we don't like and finding our source and strength in him. So when I come across things I don't like I can be thankful in the knowledge that it isn't the things I like or don't like that satisfy me but the peace and joy found in my relationship with my Father.
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