Give Thanks For The Fleas

GIVE THANKS FOR THE FLEAS

PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7

4 REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS. I WILL SAY IT AGAIN: REJOICE!

5 LET YOUR GENTLENESS BE EVIDENT TO ALL. THE LORD IS NEAR.

6 DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING, BUT IN EVERY SITUATION, BY PRAYER AND PETITION, WITH THANKSGIVING, PRESENT YOUR REQUESTS TO GOD.

7 AND THE PEACE OF GOD, WHICH TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING, WILL GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND YOUR MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS.

Did you ever want to be a flea?

We think of fleas as dirty, disgusting, annoying creatures who spread disease and filth.

Why would God create such a seemingly disgusting critter?

Why did He think we NEEDED fleas, flies, mosquitos, and such?

Nonetheless, these are ALL God’s creatures and worthy of praise and thanksgiving.

In her book, THE HIDING PLACE, Corrie Ten Boom tells about an incident that taught her to be thankful for things we normally would not consider to be a blessing.

Corrie and her sister, Betsy, prisoners of the Nazis, had just been transferred to the worst prison camp they had seen yet, Ravensbruck.

Upon entering the barracks, they found them extremely overcrowded and infested with fleas.

Their Scripture reading from their smuggled Bible that morning was in 1THESSALONIANS 5.

16 REJOICE ALWAYS, 17 PRAY CONTINUALLY, 18 GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES; FOR THIS IS GOD’S WILL FOR YOU IN CHRIST JESUS.

Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters.

Corrie at first flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas, but Betsy persisted.

Corrie finally agreed to somehow thank God for even the fleas.

During the months spent at that camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer meetings in their barracks without guard interference.

Several months later they learned that the guards would not enter the barracks because of the fleas.

If you travel to the southern states, like Florida, you may be familiar with No-See-Ums.

Fleas and No-See-Ums are in the same family.

They are hard to spot, they bite hard, and the lasting effects of their bite is very uncomfortable, to say the least.

Gail and I have experienced swarms of No-See-Ums and I can’t imagine living 24 hours per day, seven days per week being bitten like that.

And then on top of that, giving thanks for those little creepy crawlers!

But in the larger scheme of things, Betsy and Corrie endured the torment of those fleas to accomplish a greater good in having a bit more freedom to read God’s word and praise Him in the midst of their constant fear of death.

Their situation demonstrates how we should be anxious in nothing, prayerful in everything, thankful for anything.

If this attitude characterizes our lives, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

This peace surpasses all understanding and is our reason to give thanks.

People that are of the world cannot understand it at all.

Even Christians possessing it find a wonderful mystery about it.

They are surprised at their own lack of anxiety in the face of tragedy or adverse circumstances.

This rejoicing and giving of thanks in the heart lasts all through our life.

Call it gratitude, thanksgiving, or appreciation, the combination of joyous and humble feeling we experience needs to be carried to God in prayer.

COLOSSIANS 1:3-4

3 WE ALWAYS THANK GOD, THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHEN WE PRAY FOR YOU,

4 BECAUSE WE HAVE HEARD OF YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS AND OF THE LOVE YOU HAVE FOR ALL GOD’S PEOPLE—

The apostle Paul is a tremendous example of how to use the privilege of prayer.

In the majority of his epistles, Paul says he gives thanks to God on behalf of those to whom he is writing.

And even when he doesn’t spell out that greeting specifically, he alludes to his gratitude to God for those receiving his letters.

Paul prayed for lots of people he knew.

In those cases, Paul knew their need was real and he didn’t hesitate to ask God for His blessings on them.

With the congregation at Colossi, however, these are people Paul was yet to meet.

We often find it difficult to remember our own relatives and friends before the throne of grace, but think of the prayer list the Apostle Paul must have kept!

He prayed not only for those he knew but also for Christians in faraway places whose names had been only mentioned to him by others.

PHILIPPIANS 4:10-12

10 I REJOICED GREATLY IN THE LORD THAT AT LAST YOU RENEWED YOUR CONCERN FOR ME. INDEED, YOU WERE CONCERNED, BUT YOU HAD NO OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW IT.

11 I AM NOT SAYING THIS BECAUSE I AM IN NEED, FOR I HAVE LEARNED TO BE CONTENT WHATEVER THE CIRCUMSTANCES.