Internal Thermometers

Acts 27:35 (ESV) "And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat."

"Newspapers recently told of a woman in China who has lived with a thermometer inside her lung for 44 years. Apparently, she accidentally swallowed it during a routine checkup when she was twelve years old, but her family couldn't afford the surgery to remove it. Now doctors are planning to remove it before it breaks and leaks mercury into her body."

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (ESV) "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

"We all have an internal thermometer that measures our emotional health and that thermometer is gratitude. You can tell how happy [and content] someone is by noticing whether they grumble or give thanks whatever the circumstances."

"[There was] a news story once of a woman who was getting ready to jump off a 44 story building in New York City. Witnesses said that she did not look like the type of person who would do such a thing. She was very distinguished and well dressed. All the attempts made by the police to get the woman off the ledge had failed. One of the officers asked if he could call his pastor in to see if he could help. When the pastor arrived, he asked permission to go to the ledge and talk to the woman. As the pastor neared the edge the woman screamed, 'Don't come any closer or I'll jump!' The pastor took a step back and then said, 'I am sorry that you believe no one loves you.' This got the woman's attention and it got the attention of the police. That was something that you don't usually say to a person who is threatening suicide. The woman took a step towards the pastor and said, 'My grandchildren love me and so does my children. My whole family loves me! I have 8 wonderful grandchildren and they love me.' The pastor took a step towards the woman and said, 'Well then, you must be very poor, maybe that is why you want to take your own life.' The woman who was a little overweight said, 'Do I look like I go without any meals? We live in a very nice apartment. I'm not poor.' The pastor took another step closer to her and was now 3 feet from her when he asked, 'Then why do you want to kill yourself? I don't understand.' The woman thought for a moment and then said, 'You know, I don't really remember.' The story ends with the pastor and the woman walking towards the elevator as she shows him pictures of her grandchildren. Eventually this woman becomes a volunteer on the city's suicide hotline, helping others choose life. What did the pastor do to help this woman? He helped her get her eyes off herself and onto the many ways that God had blessed her. She learned a valuable lesson that day. She learned that thankful people are happy people." 1

Colossians 3:17 (ESV) "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

"There was a teenager who didn’t want to be seen in public with her mother, because her mother’s arms were terribly disfigured. One day when her mother took her shopping and reached out her hand, a clerk looked horrified. Later, crying, the girl told her how embarrassed she was. Understandably hurt, the mother waited an hour before going to her daughter’s room to tell her, for the first time, what happened. 'When you were a baby, I woke up to a burning house. Your room was an inferno. Flames were everywhere. I could have gotten out the front door, but I decided I’d rather die with you than leave you to die alone. I ran through the fire and wrapped my arms around you. Then I went back through the flames, my arms on fire. When I got outside on the lawn, the pain was agonizing but when I looked at you, all I could do was rejoice that the flames hadn’t touched you.' Stunned, the girl looked at her mother through new eyes. Weeping in shame and gratitude, she kissed her mother’s marred hands and arms." 2

Gratitude, and a spirit of thankfulness can give us a totally different perspective from the rest of the world. While others are missing out on what God wants to give them because they are not yet thankful for what they have already been given, a person who has learned the benefits of gratitude will already be reaping the rewards of being thankful in all things. Gratitude, even about undesirable circumstances, will help us see the situations and people around us through Jesus' eyes, prepares us to be joyful regardless of whether life seems to be going our way.

Acts 27:33-38 (ESV) "33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, 'Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.' 35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) 38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea."

"In Acts 27, the apostle Paul was drenched to the skin, reeling from a vicious storm, and trapped on a sinking ship. But he found something for which to thank the Lord, and he led his 276 fellow passengers in thanksgiving. The ability to be thankful in any given set of circumstances is an indication of the health of our souls." Sometimes it's only in the midst of pain and trying times that we finally realize what we've had to be thankful about all along.

A wonderful verse that illustrates that we can trust God no matter what, and therefore, be grateful, is Romans 8:28: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

"Even when a storm is raging around us and all things seem to be against us, we shall find that we have much for which to be thankful." - James. H. Snowden


JPK

*the quoted passages are either from the ESV translation of God's Word, a devotional entitled "Internal Thermometers" in Dr. David Jeremiah's July 2012 edition of Turning Points, or sermoncentral.com.