Ambush the Ambushers

The Bible says to give thanks in every circumstance. This includes when good things happen and when bad things happen, but it doesn't mean that we thank God FOR bad stuff that happens. In that case, we thank God IN SPITE OF a bad situation.

There is a huge leap in maturity and victory when we learn to develop an attitude of gratitude, but thanking God in the face of disappointment, tragedy, or danger is a different principle.

Satan tries to catch us off guard with an ambush, and he can do a lot of damage, if we fail to respond in this key strategy for dealing with it. We need to take our focus off of the problem and put it on the Problem Solver. Jesus is immensely bigger than any problem we will ever face, more than able to handle it.

Nothing the enemy plans ever takes Jesus by surprise. He has prepared an ambush for every stunt that the ambushers engineer against us. His angels are in place to give those devils a whooping. Giving thanks in the situation is the signal that God's angels wait for to go into action.

I heard this Bible verse (1 Thessalonians 5:18) several times in church before it penetrated my thick skull. I didn't actually put it into practice, though, until my husband and I went to Seattle to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.

It was a comedy of errors. I wanted to buy an evening purse to complete my outfit that I was going to wear that evening. I dragged my poor husband around a mall for two hours before I finally found one I liked. It cost a little more money than he wanted to spend, but he was that desperate, after all the hunting and my pickiness, that he was willing to pay $17.00. This was in 1977, not really pricey, but we weren't rich. The store, however, refused his credit card. They took only their own credit card. We were from Canada and had never heard of such of thing!

We left without the purse. Back at the motel, we got ready for our dinner at the Space Needle, but I ran into another problem. One of my curlers was stuck in my hair. My husband had to cut it out with scissors. I wasn't happy about having a short chunk of hair.

Then I cut my finger and it bled and bled. On all other occasions, I packed band–aids when we went anywhere, BUT NOT THIS TIME. Grrrr. I was getting so frustrated, bleeding all over, trying to staunch the blood with a wad of toilet paper so that I would not get stains on my fancy, full–length dress.

Finally, we got to the Space Needle. I stepped out of the van and into a puddle of water with my pretty sandal. I was ready to explode, but that would have ruined our date. I remembered that verse about giving thanks in every situation, so I continually muttered, "Thank You, Jesus, thank You, Jesus," as we got onto the elevator. By the time we reached the top, I was totally calm. It really worked to do that!

So why did it take me nine more years before I finally made it a habit to thank God in every situation? Please, don't be stupid like I was. I might have saved my marriage, if I had learned to apply this principle to difficulties that arose, instead of getting frustrated and reacting badly.

I started making it a habit to thank God after my marriage broke up and I had to deal with my ex–husband's spite. He found various ways to keep on hurting me, but when I thanked God in those situations, it helped calm me down and cope with the difficulties.

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