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.
12 I KNOW WHAT IT IS TO BE IN NEED, AND I KNOW WHAT IT IS TO HAVE PLENTY. I HAVE LEARNED THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT IN ANY AND EVERY SITUATION, WHETHER WELL FED OR HUNGRY, WHETHER LIVING IN PLENTY OR IN WANT.
Not only was Paul thankful for others of like precious faith, but for the circumstances where he found himself.
Paul makes it clear he has experience being wealthy and poor.
He knows what it’s like to be well-fed and to be hungry.
One anonymous author said it shows great maturity for a Christian to hold their head high when their stomachs are empty.
We can be thankful when we are at the top of the heap or under the rubble.
We are thankful for the fleas and the flea powder.
There are always events for which to give thanks.
There was a farmer who had three sons: Jim, John, and Sam.
No one in the family ever attended church or had time for God.
The preacher and members of the congregation tried for years to interest the family in the things of God, but to no avail.
Then one day, a rattlesnake bit Sam.
The doctor did all he could to help Sam, but the outlook for his recovery was dim.
So the preacher was called.
The preacher decided to draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith by praying:
"O wise and righteous Father, we thank Thee that in Thine wisdom thou didst send this rattlesnake to bite Sam.
He has never been inside the church building and it is doubtful that he has, in all this time, ever prayed or even acknowledged Thine existence.
Now we trust that his experience will be a valuable lesson to him and will lead to genuine repentance.
And now, O Father, wilt Thou send another rattlesnake to bite Jim, and another to bite John, and another really big one to bite the old man.
Be thankful for the snake bite if it encourages repentance.
The final example of giving thanks for the fleas is Joseph.
Joseph gave thanks for a situation most folks wouldn’t find praiseworthy.
GENESIS 37:28
28 SO WHEN THE MIDIANITE MERCHANTS CAME BY, HIS BROTHERS PULLED JOSEPH UP OUT OF THE CISTERN AND SOLD HIM FOR TWENTY SHEKELS OF SILVER TO THE ISHMAELITES, WHO TOOK HIM TO EGYPT.
Imagine being so hated by your siblings they wanted to kill you.
Their hearts are so bitter against you that they are willing to band together to lie to their father.
Their grudge was so hot they had only rage for their brother till the rage became revenge.
While we don't often like to admit it, holding a grudge is a common way some people respond to feeling that they've been wronged.
If we're still mad well after some type of conflict, we may be holding on to those negative feelings for too long.
Sometimes we hold onto them well after other people typically would have let them go.
We may remember multiple past bad acts and relive those experiences every time we think about or interact with that person.
We either make our displeasure abundantly clear to them or keep our true feelings to ourselves.
Neither choice is healthy or loving or adult.
We might be intentionally holding a grudge, but sometimes you aren't even aware of it.
But whatever our intentions or the cause of our bitterness, holding a grudge can end up hurting us as much or more than the person who inspired it.
The variable, however, is karma.
Joseph was his father’s favorite son because he was Rachel’s son.
Joseph was also Israel’s son from his old age.
Jacob didn’t try hard to hide the fact either.
Joseph received more of his father’s attention than did his brothers.
Joseph was given a special coat of many colors as a gift from his father.
This stoked the fires of hatred against Joseph from his brothers.
Add to these things Joseph’s tattle tail nature and his dreams and we have the perfect storm brewing.
But despite all this, when the time came, Joseph forgave his brothers and pronounced their activity as a blessing.
Joseph counted what they meant for harm as the way Joseph could get to Egypt before them so he could save the family.
I’m not sure, but I don’t believe I could be as forgiving as Joseph.
If I possessed Joseph’s power and authority, I may have decided to invite them to be my guest in Pharaoh’s prison.
Fortunately, Joseph didn’t choose that route.
GENESIS 45:4-7
4 THEN JOSEPH SAID TO HIS BROTHERS, “COME CLOSE TO ME.” WHEN THEY HAD DONE SO, HE SAID, “I AM YOUR BROTHER JOSEPH, THE ONE YOU SOLD INTO EGYPT!
5 AND NOW, DO NOT BE DISTRESSED AND DO NOT BE ANGRY WITH YOURSELVES FOR SELLING ME HERE, BECAUSE IT WAS TO SAVE LIVES THAT GOD SENT ME AHEAD OF YOU.
6 FOR TWO YEARS NOW THERE HAS BEEN FAMINE IN THE LAND, AND FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS THERE WILL BE NO PLOWING AND REAPING.
7 BUT GOD SENT ME AHEAD OF YOU TO PRESERVE FOR YOU A REMNANT ON EARTH AND TO SAVE YOUR LIVES BY A GREAT DELIVERANCE.
Joseph ordered his staff to go out of the room while, with an enormous emotional release, he revealed his identity to his brothers.
He told them not to grieve for the way they had treated him because God had overruled it for good.
Judah’s readiness to sacrifice himself for his brother and father allowed Joseph to reveal his own identity and the divine purpose behind his own suffering.
God used Joseph’s brothers’ evil deeds to save lives.
God overrules human deeds, whether good or evil, to achieve his saving purposes.
The Lord declared to Abraham that through his offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.
God sovereignly controls human affairs.
That fact does not remove people from full moral responsibility for their deeds.
The brothers’ actions caused significant hurt.
Jacob’s unquenchable grief, Joseph’s slavery and unjust imprisonment, and the brothers’ own guilty consciences are directly tied to the grudge held by the brothers.
Tons of things in life cause pain.
People, emotions, disasters, and work.
Pain is also the route by which we grow.
We call them growing pains.
It is the pain of stretching the muscles that makes them better muscles.
It is by the pain of exercise that we become stronger and healthier.
There is no progress in any respect without pain, and so the pain is a form of pleasure, for pain is a symbol of progress.
Pain is the price paid for progress in freedom all through history.
Every good thing we enjoy has come out of the pain of those who have gone before.
The pain of high risk and hard work.
If not for the pain of the founding fathers, and the pilgrims and pioneers, we would not have a long list of things for which to thank God.
Positive pain has played a major role in everything we call our blessings in time.
Our life, our freedom, and our salvation are all based on the pain of others.
If it was not for the pain of Christ and His church through the ages, we would have nothing for which to give thanks.
There is a certain amount of pain and sweat associated with all kinds or forms of work.
It may not always be physical pain, however.
It may be emotional or mental pain.
I don’t want to hurt in life and I don’t want you to hurt in life.
Joseph had tons of pain, but he never stopped thanking God for all he had.
Paul may have been discouraged by the lifestyle some of the people in various congregations were living, but he never stopped thanking God for all he had.
Job suffered tremendous losses, but he never stopped thanking God.
We give thanks for the good things, Job said, so why would we not give God thanks for what we believe are bad things?
Job said he came into the world with nothing, and he knew he’d leave the same way.
One of the greatest purposes of pain is the power it generates in men to triumph over it.
Most of the great victories over pain have come because pain moved its victims to seek a way to help others
escape it.
Jesus suffered the pain of the cross for the ultimate goal of ridding the world of all pain.
There will be a painless paradise just because of the pain He suffered, and he suffered it because He could
not love man and let him go on enduring all the pain that sin had brought into the world.
When He walked this earth, almost all of His miracles were painkillers.
He came to destroy the works of the devil that brought so much pain to man, and He did so by healing, forgiving, and by raising from the dead.
Too often instead of thanksgiving or thanks-living, we see much “thanks, give-me”.
Greed, discontent, having an entitlement attitude, having a spirit of demandingness; all this is not a spirit of thanksgiving.
When we have this negative spirit the word, "thanks" doesn't cross our mind.
ROMANS 1:21
21 For although they knew God they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
When we know who God is but fail to praise Him and thank Him then there's something wrong with the way we think.
God is not there to be our spiritual magic genie whose duty it is to fulfill our wish list.
When we don't see God in the proper light or respect Him for who He is or when we’re not thankful toward God (and others for that matter) darkness has invaded our foolish heart.
We think we’re thankful but the question is, how have we shown that we’re thankful?
How often do we literally say, "thank you" to God and others for the minor or “unique” opportunities?
How often do we do things to show that we’re appreciative?
To people who help us out in any way, do we say and show we are thankful?
What about when God answers prayer?
Do we remember to say, 'thank you'?
Fleas, being sold to the Egyptians, rattlesnakes, thorns in the flesh, people that disappoint us, catastrophic losses, all these are thanks-worthy.
SO LET’S GIVE THANKS FOR THE FLEAS.
