Nov 23 - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,

give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is God's will for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

In World War II, Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsy hid many Jews in their home. They heroic tried to keep innocent people from persecution. In the end, Corrie and Betsy were themselves persecuted.

With God's help, the two faithful Christians smuggled a Bible into the concentration camp. Corrie was famed for saying that when they read the words of the Apostles -- who themselves were persecuted -- it was like the ink was not yet dry on the page.

If the ink wasn't dry, Corrie, however, would have like to smudged 1 Thessalonians 5:18 from the page of her Bible. Upon reading, "give thanks in all circumstances," Corrie's sister Betsy said, "Well, then, we need to give thanks for the lice."

Corrie refused. But even in prison, Betsy's faith was joyful and childlike. "Corrie, if God says give thanks, then I'm going to give thanks ... even for the lice."

It turns out that the terrible outbreak of lice in their concentration camp hut kept their oppressors from breaking in and both brutalizing the women ... and discovering their cabin's secret Bible study. The lice, therefore, allowed the Gospel light to shine in one of the darkest places in the history of earth.

If Betsy could give thanks for lice, what might you need to give thanks for?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who needs to

give thanks for sufferings

because as Paul said in Romans 5,

"suffering produces endurance,

and endurance produces character,

and character produces hope ..."