Be Thankful/Things Could Be Worse

Years ago, an evangelist I knew went through a great trial. His wife left him, spreading lies everywhere, his children all turned on him, and every church he had booked, cancelled their meetings. He told me he thought at the time, it was bad as it could get. Then a card came in the mail from a preacher friend. On the front was a picture of a one-legged man with the caption, "I thought I was bad off." Then when you opened the card, it said, "Until I met a man with no legs."

I remember my blessed mother saying about herself or to others, when in difficult situations, "Well, it could be a lot worse." Those among us who are tempted to say, in trying times, "It is as bad as it can get," may find God will allow us to realize the hard way our statement to be untrue. We need to learn to be thankful our lot is not worse than it is. There are many suffering saints who would gladly change places with us. None of us has yet "sweat blood," in our agony!

David, no doubt, had the same trouble some of us have in our afflictions. He complained with his lot."I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed." Whenever we feel like grumbling we need to follow the advice an older preacher gave me when I was starting out in my ministry. I had asked the cure for those times I felt sorry for myself. The wise answer was, "Read a chapter out of Foxe's book of Martyrs, or go visit the cancer ward at a local hospital. Maybe some of us need to do some reading or visiting today. What do you think?