Must Christians Thank God for Evil Things

Must Christians Thank God for Evil Things?

By Patricia Backora

Today a hard-to-swallow doctrine is going around, supposedly drawn from Ephesians 5:20: Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. At first glance, it seems you must interpret that verse to mean you must give thanks for everything that exists in this universe. Even if an unsaved workmate mails a Christian man a stack of porn magazines for his birthday to wind him up, thanks must be given unto God for them. Okay, there might be a loophole here. Maybe the Christian man is freezing to death and needs fuel for his fireplace. Then he could go back to work the next day and thank his workmate for how those magazines warmed up his life. But what if the Christian opened his Bible for guidance to find out what his attitude should be toward the magazines, and opened up to Luke 10:8? In that verse Jesus tells His disciples to eat such things as are set before them. So how does the man apply that verse to this particular thing that has entered his life? If he truly thinks that all things are sent to him by the Lord and he has no right to reject anything, then no problem. So the man's reasoning goes like this: Reading is mental eating, and God did not prevent the magazines from coming to him, so why not thank God for them and just enjoy them? So the man says grace over the magazines and feasts his eyes on the juicy centerfold.

Preposterous, isn't it? But that's one example of how you must be discerning in the interpretation and application of Scripture. What decent Christian man would say grace over satan's centerfold and devour it? To apply such a twisted interpretation of "eat such things as are set before you" would mean you have to violate another Scripture: I will set no evil thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside (err from the truth). It shall not cleave unto me (Psalms 101:3). To give thanks for something is to accept it. If you refuse to let some evil thing cleave unto you, then you also refuse to accept it.

On a far more serious note, say some prowler breaks into that believer's house and starts slapping his wife around. Embrace All Evil Theology expects the husband to stand idly by and not to resist the evil going on, even if his wife gets killed in the attack. Instead, the man ought to give thanks for the trial his wife is going through, because some good might possibly spring from it. Instead of fighting off her attacker and crying out for her husband's help, the woman ought to embrace the thug as a blessing sent by God as a teacher to help her learn patience, longsuffering and unconditional forgiveness. According to Embrace All Evil Theology, her husband would be stunting his wife's spiritual growth by rescuing her and chasing the assailant away. And worse yet, he would be robbing the criminal of the chance to see unconditional Christian love, longsuffering, and forgiveness in action. Nonsense! What decent man would stand idly by with folded hands while his wife is screaming for help?

Did God send the criminal who attacked the hypothetical victim? No, satan did! Did God inspire the Christian man's workmate to send the porn magazines to teach the Christian something? No, satan did! So who is due thanksgiving if the Christian insists on thanking someone? The devil! It is his ministry to steal, kill, and destroy, and I don't know how on earth anybody can thank God for the ministry of satan which caused the ruination of the human race through the Fall of Adam, and resulted in Christ having to suffer all the horrible things He did to remedy that ruination. Embrace All Evil is one of satan's most insidious religious lies going around in Christian circles today, and it is all the more dangerous because it sounds oh, so self-sacrificing and religiously spiritual. But it is really a modern version of the hairshirt and flagellation penance of the Dark Ages. The form might be different but the essence is the same.

There is another verse in the Old Testament which reminds us to be thankful for "all things" with rejoicing. It is set in the middle of a whole chapter full of terrible consequences (curses) which can befall you if you don't have a thankful attitude toward all the many ways God has blessed you. Emotional and physical sicknesses, tragedies, lack of basic necessities and defeats of all kinds are visited upon the disobedient and unthankful as punishment. Verse 47 gives the reason for all the heartbreaking hurts listed there: Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things.

Once again, you encounter the phrase "all things". Just what "all things" does God mean? Is He rebuking the children of Israel because they didn't thank Him for a locust plague, leprosy or battle casualties? No, God is reproving them for failing to thank Him for good things like food and the good land He'd given them. And it matters not that that passage happens to be in the Old Testament. I Corinthians 10:1-10 also speaks of the terrible fate of the children of Israel who complained against God. They were bitten by serpents and died. The serpent symbolizes satan. Verse 11 says those things were written as an example for us, that is, those of us who live in the Church Age. It is just as undesirable for us to be bitten by serpents now as it was for Old Testament believers to be bitten by serpents.

Here is what Jesus had to say about serpents wrapped up as gifts, and how they differ from the kind of gifts God gives to His children: Or, what man is there of you, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give GOOD GIFTS unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give GOOD THINGS to them that ask him? (Matt.7:9-10). If you are given a serpent, then you should pray and find out whether satan gave you that serpent. You can still thank God in the situation, because He has the power to send that serpent back to its rightful owner, satan.

In I Timothy 6:17 Paul writes: Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. Which "all things" does Paul mean here? Does God send us heartbreak or hunger to enjoy? Those two things would be part of the all-inclusive collection of all things that exist, but common sense tells you that you cannot enjoy all things now in existence in a sin-tainted universe which has not yet been renovated by God. Although you are forced to endure many things in this life, and must seek God's grace to get the victory over them.

Paul speaks in another place of this idea of God giving us all things to enjoy in Acts 14:17: Nevertheless he (God) left not Himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. Paul did not tell his listeners that the goodness of God is displayed to mankind in disease plagues and other forms of satanic oppression.

A similar passage is found in the first section of Deuteronomy 28, before you get into all those terrible curses for disobedience. This particular section of the chapter details the blessings for obedience, as distinguished from the curses. I'll cite just verse 12: The Lord shall open unto thee His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and shalt not borrow. Notice, this verse is similar to what Paul said about rain from heaven and fruitful seasons. That is what God means by blessing His people. Good means good and bad means bad. If God has changed His mind about what is a blessing and what isn't, Paul would not have preached to the heathen about abundance of food and refreshing rain being sent by God to demonstrate His goodness toward men.

Has God changed His definition of good things and bad things? I don't think so. A certain politician got caught in a lie and tried to wiggle out of it. He was asked something like: "Is the allegation true?" His unforgettable reply: "It all depends on what your definition of 'is' is. God doesn't talk out of both sides of His mouth like a politician does. His definition of what 'is' is hasn't changed with the changing of Biblical dispensations, and neither has His definition of 'good' changed!

Every good gift and and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness (change), neither shadow of turning (James 1:17). So who do you think evil gifts come from? Does the evil gift bear the signature of satan upon it as being a destructive, abominable thing? Jesus said in Luke 20:25, as he pointed to the image of Caesar on a Roman coin: Render unto Caesar the things which be Caesars, and unto God the things which be Gods. If what you have received is satanic, and you are determined to give thanks for it, dont insult God by thanking HIM for it! Thank the devil, and hell be pleased as punch that you arent giving him much of a fight.

Now I'll bring up one verse which theologians of opposite persuasions have wrangled over because it's been sensationalized too much by money-obsessed Faith Theology preachers. But you can't throw the baby out with the bath water, and it means just what it says. 3 John 2: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

I believe strongly that the "Jesus-died-to-make-you-a-millionaire" Theology is a Scripture-twisting heresy, so I was tempted to agree with those who said that verse was only a nice salutation, and that was all it meant. But this epistle was written by John, one of Jesus' disciples. John was not one to go around buttering up men in high places with empty, idle words. Jesus warned that every idle word we speak we would have to give account of in the day of Judgment. So I doubt very much John would have penned that verse lightly, saying that he wished ABOVE ALL THINGS (there we have the phrase 'all things' again!) that Gaius would prosper and be in health, as his soul prospers.

If John intended that blessing he wrote to Gaius as only a social nicety, it was just an idle (non-productive) word. But the fact that unscrupulous Faith teachers have preached on that verse and misused it does not mean that verse is not a real part of the Word of God. John could have written instead: "Brother, I wish above all things that your fiery trials would get worse. I wish all manner of sickness and mishaps would come into your life so you would have more opportunities to grow in grace." With a friendly salutation like that, Gaius would have said: "With friends like that, who needs enemies!"

If "all things" is to be applied to a prayer of thanksgiving in an all-inclusive sense, then God should have accepted the prayer of the self-righteous Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14: God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

The Pharisee made a show of giving God thanks for his own goodness. Even the Pharisee's hypocrisy would be part of the all-inclusive collection of "all things" in existence, bad as it is. If All-inclusive Thanksgiving is a valid doctrine, God should have been as pleased as punch to get that prayer. That good ol boy Pharisee had a whole list of religious things he'd done to outshine others and the Pharisee thanked God for those things. But did God approve of that particular act of thanksgiving? Apparently not. It was the sinful tax collector who went to his house justified, rather than the thanks-giving Pharisee. The Pharisee should have prayed a prayer of repentance on that occasion, rather than thanking God for the religious things he'd done. If All-inclusive Thanksgiving were a valid doctrine, the sinful tax collector might have given thanks for his own imperfect deeds like the Pharisee. His sins were bad things, but they were things nonetheless. All-inclusive Thanksgiving would even permit the thieving tax collector to give God thanks for the money he filched out of some poor widow!

If I were to go eat a meal with someone and we were about to say grace over our plates, I could concentrate either on thanking God for what's on my own plate or silently offer thankfulness for the food that's on everyone else's plates too. I could even give thanks for the food left in the kitchen. I could, in my heart, offer up thanks for every item that is in the room or all things which exist in the universe. I remember one little girl who volunteered to say grace over a meal. As her parents fidgeted while the food got colder, she thanked God for the pictures on the walls, the flowers, the blue sky, and everything she could think of in her little girl world. It brings a smile to my face to ponder the sincere thankfulness of a tiny child. But it never occurred to that child to thank God for the last time she had a cold, or for the last bad dream she had.

Supppose you are a missionary in Africa who is eating with some natives round a camp fire. You are about to say grace over your plate. But you see a cockroach on the edge of the plate. You wish you could just order a fresh plate of food, but you don't want to offend your hosts who must live daily in unsanitary conditions. So you just brush the roach off your plate. Then you thank God for "all things" on your plate, trusting that the food is sanctified and fit to eat, and won't kill you. You did not thank God for the roach, but you did thank God for everything that remained on your plate and ate it after God blessed it unto its intended use, as I've often heard country church folks say.

We do not have to give thanks for the evil things satan puts on our plate. Unless God shows us to leave the roach on our plate we have every right to fight to brush it off our plate, to prevent the devil from destroying any part of our lives. The curses of Deuteronomy 28 were many and varied, but they all had one thing in common: whoever suffered those afflictions saw some part of their life destroyed. If satan can't put all of you in your grave, he will at least try to destroy part of your life. The devil is a thief as well as a liar. If he cannot kill your body entirely, he will struggle to steal your finances, your reputation, your marriage, your health, the list goes on and on. By faith we must claim our rights as sons and daughters of God, as being redeemed from the curse of broken law by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8), not to put a benediction on them. We must resist the devil so he will flee from us (James 4:7). God has promised to bruise satan under our feet (Rom.16:20). In that passage the Lord is called "the God of Peace", as He is referred to in many other New Testament passages. We are sons and daughters of the God of Peace, not satan, the god of turmoil and confusion. On the Cross of Calvary, Jesus redeemed us from the dominion of darkness. He paid a terrible price on the Cross to get us out from beneath satans feet. But all too many believers think it is selfish to want to break free of satans oppressions. They think they are suffering in the will of God by being the devis doormats. Tragic.

Dont buy everything you encounter at the religous meat market. Youve got the right, AND THE DUTY, to prove all things and to hold fast to that which is good (I Thes.5:21). By clear inference, that would include the right to reject that which is bad instead of giving thanks for it. Now, if good and bad things alike must both be accepted (and given thanks for) on an equal basis, why would you bother to examine whether something is good or bad before holding fast to it? Even the fishermen of Jesus' day had enough sense to inspect the catch in their nets and throw the bad fish away before taking their catch to the market place. In Matthew 13:47-50 Jesus tells the Parable of the Net, where fishermen sort their fish. The good is kept and the bad thrown away. Jesus does not rebuke the fishermen for not saying grace over the bad fish.

Luke 14:34-35: Salt is good; but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill: but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Jesus did not tell those men to give thanks for the bad salt that was good for nothing except to be thrown out.

God does not expect a higher standard of conduct of us than He does of Himself, and that would be impossible to achieve anyway. Does God Himself give thanks for all things that exist in a fallen universe?

God rejected Cain's offering. He never did thank Cain for it (Gen.4:5).

God rejected strange fire offered on His altar (Num.3:4).

In Old Testament times God would not allow His people to eat (or say grace over) unclean beasts (see Leviticus Chapter 11).

God would sometimes reject offerings made on His altar by priests (Mal.2:13).

God loved Jacob and hated Esau (Malachi 1:2-3; Romans 9:13).

Does Jesus embrace all things in existence, even things unholy and abominable? I very much doubt it. Satan, as well as evil men and evil things, will be shut out of heaven. Butter and honey shall He (Jesus) eat, that He may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good (Isaiah 7:15).

Imagine a church holding a Thanksgiving Day service right before they partake of a turkey dinner. The church members sit around in a circle and take their turn offering God thanks for the various blessings in their lives. "Joe" decides to apply some new teaching he picked up from some vague source. The lady sitting next to him has just finished thanking the Lord for her happy home, for her job promotion and for her salvation in Christ. Now it's Joe's turn. He is so determined to thank God "for all things" that he thanks God for satan and for the wonderful way satan has made him grow as a Christian through trying him. The last example Joe cites is this: "And Lord, dope dealers have moved into my home and taken it over and I thank You for sending them, even if they wont listen when I try to witness to them. satan has used those derelicts to teach me such wonderful lessons in patience, bless his holy name." Naturally the pastor is shocked and wants to know where Joe picked up that gem of wisdom.

Some absurd extremes can be reached if "all things" which exist in this universe are to be given thanks for. What if some Tribulation saint fell for that lie and gave thanks even for the Antichrist, or the Mark of the Beast? They are things, too. What if that Tribulation believer embraced the Mark of the Beast and submitted to it gladly, because he believed in embracing all evil? But if you submit to the Mark of the Beast God won't thank you for it. You'll lose your soul and your chance at salvation (Rev.14:9-11).

God is sovereign. You cannot put Him in a box. If fleas invaded your home, He would normally expect you to get rid of them in a sensible way. Corrie and Betsy Ten Boom were two devout Dutch ladies, whose habit was to keep an orderly, tidy home. But after they were arrested by Hitler's Gestapo and put in a concentration camp for their faith, they had no control over their physical environment. They were in a situation where they had to suffer persecution for Christ's sake.

Corrie and Betsy made the best of a very bad situation. Somehow they managed to sneak a Bible into their prison barracks, and at every opportunity they would read to their unhappy fellow-prisoners to try to encourage them. One day they noticed the whole barracks was overrun by fleas. But instead of grumbling, Betsy and Corrie felt led to thank God for the fleas. That is a good illustration of giving God room to work all things out for good in His sovereign will (Rom.8:28). Because of that flea infestation the guards refused to enter the barracks to check on the inmates. So there was much more freedom for Corrie and Betsy to minister to the others. Those cruel guards would have been an even worse torment to them than flea bites. That was a time of terrible suffering those two ladies endured for their faith in Christ. But in a time of non-persecution Corrie and Betsy would not have seen the fleas as a blessing and would have attacked them with a vengeance instead of patiently bearing them and thanking God for them.

I'm sure, as they gave thanks "for all things", Corrie and Betsy did not give God thanks for the terrible gas chambers which destroyed so many helpless men, women and children. Gas chambers are part of "all things" that exist in the universe, sadly.

Even Old Testament believers living under the Law of Moses knew the difference between a blessing and a curse. They gave God thanks for blessings, not for things which could hurt or kill them. There were even limitations on which meats they would thank the Lord for. Those living under Mosaic Law would never have dared to say grace over a Virginia ham.

Since Christ died on the Cross, some things have changed. Its okay for a Christian to eat a ham sandwich now because New Covenant Christians are not under Mosaic dietary regulations. It is in that context that I Timothy 4:4-5 said that "every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused, so long as it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer." Romans 14:14 was also written to resolve the heated issue of whether Mosaic dietary regulations were still in force upon believers in Christ. Paul wrote: I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth (believes) any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

A few sinners twist that Scripture to mean that even acts of immorality cannot be rejected as unclean. But whatever you do out of rebellion toward the will of God, is unclean. At the first church council in in Jerusalem, the Apostles forbade Gentile converts to eat things offered to idols (Acts 15:29). Peter and James had grown up as Jews who ate only Kosher food, but they did not forbid Gentile Christians to eat shellfish. However, those men felt led by the Holy Spirit to issue four necessary prohibitions which specifically banned fornication, food offered to idols, the consumption of blood, and meat from strangled animals. Things such as these could not be included in prayers of thanksgiving "for all things".

In Revelation 2:20 Jesus Himself reproves the Church of Thyatira for allowing Jezebel to teach His servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Even if those who indulged in idol food went through the motions of thanking God for it, they were still guilty of sin for deliberately defying God's commandment not to partake of it.

We may not be under Old Testament dietary restrictions on what species of animals we may eat, but those four prohibitions are still in force because they were issued by the original apostles, and the Church is built upon the foundation of those apostles (Eph.2:20). On that basis, and because I think its gross, I dont believe in eating black pudding (blood sausage). Mosaic dietary ordinances may have been nailed to the Cross of Calvary (Col.2:14), but can the Old Testament principle of rejecting certain physical things as unclean be applied as an object lesson to teach New Testament believers to reject things which are spiritually unclean?

Surely it can. Paul quotes Old Testament Scripture as he exhorts Christians to keep themselves separate from the iniquity of this world. Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and TOUCH NOT THE UNCLEAN THING; and I will receive you (II Cor. 6:17). You are not to even TOUCH abominable things of wickedness, much less give God thanks for their existence! You can enjoy shrimp cocktail if you want to. You could even say grace over a meal of witchety grubs if you were dining with Aborigines in the Outback of Australia, and the meal would be sanctified by the Word of God and prayer (I Tim.4:4-5). But God has discriminating tastes. If you say grace over the magic mushrooms youre about to dine on and ask Him to bless your trip to the next dimension, He wont honor that prayer.

In I Corinthians Chapter 5 Paul mentions a sordid case of immorality in the Corinthian church where a man slept with his own stepmother. Paul definitely did not give thanks for that ugly situation. Nor did he command the church to give God thanks for it. Instead, he rebuked the church for tolerating such perverted behavior and allowing it to continue for some time. About the only good to come out of that situation is later, when after the other church members have shunned the man out of their fellowship, the man repented and they were able to confirm their love toward him as a restored brother in Christ (II Cor.2:5-8). Through this sad thing, the others learned how to love and forgive.

God has the power to salvage good out of bad things. But the devil wasn't trying to help that backsliding Corinthian Christian grow spiritually. He was out to destroy that man, and when he attacks you, he is trying to destroy you too! Old sluefoot knows we have but a short life span in this world and if he can't get us to turn back to the ways of darkness, he will at least try to hamstring our ministries as Christians by causing setbacks and hurting us in any way he can. If he can keep you sick or preoccupied with fixing things he damages in your life, there will be much less time and energy to devote to others.

All-inclusive Thanksgiving is a kissing cousin to the pagan philosophy that evil is only in the eye of the beholder. Here is a little story to illustrate the absurdity of that thinking:

A certain man has gotten thrown into a pot of boiling water by the devil. The unfortunate man feels the pain of the hot water and keeps trying to hop out before he turns to soup stock.

Along comes a very religious man to give him advice: "Trust me. Ive walked with the Lord for X-number of years, and Im a very wise Christian. The problem, my friend, is not with the hot water, its your attitude toward the water."

"But it hurts!" the poor man wails, resisting his buddys efforts to plunge him deeper into the boiling pot.

"Lets take it one step at a time, then. Can you at least give God thanks in the hot water, if you cant give Him thanks for the hot water youre in?"

"O Lord," the unfortunate man prays, "I give You thanks that youre able to get me out of this predicament."

Cool as a cucumber, his buddy rebukes him: "What a self-centered prayer, prayed out of a heart full of fear, not faith! If you were any kind of a decent believer at all, youd not only thank God for being in the hot water, youd even be willing to stay in it forever, and youd offer up thanks for the hot water as well."

"I cant do that!" the man groaned, still struggling to get out.

"The reason you cant give thanks for the hot water, friend, is your lack of vision," says his self-righteous critic. "All you see is youre being boiled alive. You ought to give God thanks for all things, even this soothing bath the devil has drawn for you."

There is a time for all things. A time to give thanks and a time to fight the enemy. As Paul taught his converts, give thanks unto the Giver of every good and perfect gift. God does not instruct us to give thanks for abominations the Lord Jesus died to set us free from. Jobs Comforters Rub It InWhen life hits rock bottom, who does a wounded Christian turn to? If he is fortunate he will find a caring counselor with a listening ear and a mouth which is slow to criticize. It has often been said: God's army is the only one which kills off its own wounded. Someone full of religious rhetoric but short on empathy will sit pretty on his serene mountaintop and look down judgmentally at the saint under fire by the devil. He (or she) will pick at the poor Christian for being unable to endure the trial with great joy.

Some saints sing through even the worst trials, and so long as they do it because Gods anointing rests upon them, that is wonderful. But all too many Christians dont want to let down other Christians who expect them to go through life with a permanent smile plastered on their face. Tormented saints are afraid theyll be criticized if they mourn over some devastating loss in their lives. A Jobs Comforter Counselor expects that a Christian ensnared in the devils web and taken captive by powers of darkness ought to clap his hands and rejoice with singing....even if his heart is broken to the point of illness. But thats just as heartless on the counselors part as expecting singing and rejoicing out of the Jews taken captive by Babylon. Was their captivity an occasion for singing songs of joy?

Psalms 137:1: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

VERSE 2: We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

VERSE 3: For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song, and they that wasted us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

VERSE 4: How shall we sing the Lords song in a strange land?

Some saints weep to remember better days when they enjoyed Gods blessing upon their circumstances. Job himself remembered better days in Job Chapter 29: He recalls that glorious period of his life when he could feel the light of God resting upon his head. But now Jobs world is one of doom and gloom. The bright joy he once knew is like a tarnished penny. Job recalls Gods blessing on his flocks and oliveyards. He pines away for the days when he had wealth to use to bless the widow and the fatherless. Nowhere does God castigate Job for mourning his losses. The Jews taken captive wept as they considered the spiritual blessing they had lost, and the Holy Temple which had been destroyed.

The captives hung their harps of rejoicing upon the willow tree and wept. Their captors wanted them to sing, but the very effort to sing made them choke on their tears. Singing would have been out of place in that profane place of captivity. Unless God bestows an anointing of joy and unless the Lord gives the song, you cant require music out of a crushed soul. Paul and Silas were beaten and locked up in jail and the Lord led them to sing (Acts 16:25:44). They didnt sing because another Christian told them they had to do it to be spiritual giants. They obeyed the inner leading and unction of the Spirit. As a result, the power of God came down and they were released from their captivity. The anointing destroyed the yoke of their captivity (Isaiah 10:27). The jailer and his whole family got converted because the jailer saw how God was mighty to deliver His people.

Unless God chooses to defeat the enemy through praise and gives the song Himself, there is a time to hang your harp of singing on the willow tree and instead, hold the Sword of the Spirit to battle the enemy. Unless God Himself lifts the burden, there is a time to weep as well as a time to laugh; a time to mourn, not just a time to dance (Eccl. 3:4).

You who have been misjudged for having human feelings, believe me, I've been there too. Many, many moons ago, I was minding my own business one afternoon when two supersaints from the church knocked on my front door. At least it wasn't our "Christian" landlord coming for more money. I was surprised to see those two ladies, since they'd never bothered to call on me before. One of them happened to be the church busybody. They couldn't have picked a worse time to come by. Bad weather had interfered with my husband's outdoor work, and he hadn't gotten paid yet. That day I didn't have any refreshments in the kitchen to share with them, just a box of baking soda, as I recall. But they made a real meal out of me, and it was well worth their while to come over. To the delight of "Susie Q", they got me to admit that I felt bad about how some brother in the church had defrauded my husband of badly needed wages and never reconciled with us afterward. While this brother lived on easy street, we were living from hand to mouth. That man's wife had been one of my best friends before she married him, and she had little contact with me afterward. Well, Susie Q. said piously: "I'm really surprised at you. I looked up to you."

As they darted out the door with their juicy tidbit, the other lady said: "I'm going to fast and pray about this." Well, at least those two had a choice about their abstinence, and whenever they decided to end their self-righteous fast, they could go out to Burger King and stuff their big blabbermouths. I didn't have that option. I was hungry and expecting a child. Those two supersaints were long on armchair religious rhetoric and short on the practical kind of love Christ has called us to. I hadn't asked them to come and meddle. They'd only made my trial worse by coming by to minister condemnation.

How easy, to exhort someone else to cheerful patience and endurance when your own existence is a rose garden without thorns. You will never, ever, hear me thank God for the works of the devil in my own life, and especially not in someone else's life! Am I going to thank God that my brother suffered from such a bad eating disorder that his weakened body finally succumbed to the cancer that killed him? Should I thank God for the agonizing way my dignified dad died, fed by a stomach tube and partially paralyzed by a stroke? Should I thank God for the worries my poor mother suffered over Dad's hospital care, and the fact she was too poor to pay for it? I won't insult the Lord by sanctifying the works of the devil with a prayer of thanks. Instead, I would offer up a prayer for deliverance and thank God that He is able to undertake for me to set me free from satans oppression.

It seems like the doctrinal pendulum has swung from one extreme to another: from saying that Gods children should NEVER have to suffer to the other: implying that the Lord cannot be pleased with His children unless they are in a continual state of suffering, as penalty for their descent from Adam. If there is still a penalty to pay for that fact, then the redemption of Christ is yet incomplete, and how can anyone explain that mortal Millennial saints will get to live for 1,000 years free of heartbreaking trials? (Isaiah 65: 17-25). That passage speaks of a future generation of mortals, who will engage in agriculture and bear children. It cannot be speaking of the immortal state of blessedness, because only mortals can give birth to children. The Millennium will be a time of near-paradise conditions on earth, not a fiery furnace where people must take abuse from the devil. If God must punish us with tragedy for being descended from Adam, then to be fair, He would also have to punish those other mortal people in the same way. We suffer today because satan has not yet been confined to his holding tank to await his future execution. He will be confined throughout the Millennium (Rev.20:1-3).

Speaking of paradise, I can thank God my brother repented and is in heaven now. But if I were misguided enough to thank God for the horrific pain my poor brother went through, you could surely question whether I even loved my own brother. Would I have wanted something for him that I wouldn't wish for any animal to suffer?

Am I going to thank God that my husband has suffered continual severe pain from a construction accident he had back in 1984? NO! But I can thank God for the wonderful way He spared Tom's life recently and the progress he has made in being able to walk with a cane and getting around every day. And before anybody tells me Tom's pain is a gift from God to rejoice over and be thankful for, be mighty careful! Would you yourself be prepared to go through 24/7 pain I can't even begin to imagine? Those who boldly brag: "Whatever God sends I'll cheerfully sail through with flying colors", those are the ones who are opening themselves up to the possibility of getting a pop quiz in Patient Endurance 101.

Some theologians focus only on the fact that God is able to salvage good out of bad things. But while some suffering is unavoidable, other suffering people can bring on themselves through disobedience, making bad decisions, etc. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and ended up having her husband killed so he could take Bathsheba into his harem. David suffered terrible consequences for his sin, including the death of the baby born of his illicit affair. God did bring good out of that terrible thing in the form of godly descendants which sprang from David and Bathsheba. Thanks could be given to God for the likes of King Hezekiah, King Jehoshaphat, and King Josiah, who while they might not have been perfect men, served Israel as godly kings. Jesus could trace his own ancestry back to David and Bathsheba through their son Nathan (I Chron.3:5; Luke 3:31).

Yet it surely wasn't God's perfect plan for David to commit adultery, even if good was salvaged out of the situation. That sin almost cost David his soul. It did not bring glory to God, and it created opportunity for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme (II Sam.12:14). Thanks could not be given for the sin itself. David could have gone to hell for committing it. Not only did David's infant son die, but many of his other family members suffered ripple effects of divine retribution for his sin.

Job is cited in the Book of James as an example of patient endurance. Endurance is the key word. Job accepted having to go through the trial as the will of God, but while Job endured the trial, he did not ENJOY the trial, which is what some believers think God requires of us. Throughout the Book of Job, Job laments over the injustice of his sufferings while his know-it-all "friends" castigate him for complaining, because surely he must have done something bad to deserve his misery. In Job Chapter 3 Job curses the day he was born, and wishes he hadn't even been born. Yet James still cites Job as an example of patient endurance. Why? Not because Job gave God rapturous thanks for His traumatic trials, but because Job did not lose his faith in God.

There were other saints who did not break forth into heavenly jubilation when they were severely tried. Elijah got so depressed by Jezebel's persecution he wished himself dead (I Kings 19:4-7). But did God rebuke Elijah for not having a better attitude toward his trial? No. God sent an angel to minister to Elijah's physical need of food, to strengthen him so he could go on. Far from rejecting Elijah, God rewarded him with a privilege only one other mortal man is recorded to have received: Elijah was taken up into a whirlwind to heaven without first dying (II Kings 2:11).

The prophet Jonah did not even thank God for what he should have seen as a miraculous blessing: the repentance of an entire city after a campaign of half-hearted preaching Jonah did out of duty, not love. Jonah, like Elijah, said it would be better for him to die than to live (Jonah 4:1-3). Jonah's lack of concern for the Ninevites salvation was appalling, but God did not chuck Jonah out because of his faults and failings as a man. The Ninevites and other Assyrians were a military threat to Israel, and Jonah felt uneasy about God sparing that nation. But God gently reasoned with Jonah and provided shelter to protect him from the heat. God understands that we are but dust (Psalms 103:13-14).

Even if some preacher wears a string of degrees around his neck and wears an ecclesiastical miter as tall as the Empire State Building, don't let him sit in judgment on you before he has first gone through what you've suffered. If you still have nightmares from your school days when you were being bullied on the school bus year in and year out, don't let that spiritual butcher make you feel bad just because you can't give God thanks for the monstrous abuse you endured on that bus. It wasn't that preacher's pain, it was YOUR pain!

Perhaps there are those who find it a challenge to give God thanks for a financial setback which was caused by catastrophic illness in the family. And that awful trial struck in spite of the fact the saint gave generously to bless others and worked hard to prosper in business. Perhaps that trial led to homelessness for the saint, so that his family had to stay with relatives for awhile. What if, because of their unearned setbacks, they were perceived as losers who couldnt make their way in this ruthless world? Trials are like rabbits. Give 'em a chance and they'll multiply like the ripples on the surface of a pond multiply after a single stone is thrown in.

If you admit to some religious expert that you're still living with the bad effects of past trials, both circumstantially and emotionally, watch out! Darts of condemnation are apt to fly your way. If you can't be glad about being mired down in permanent trial, you just might be accused of being too self-centered to give God glory for your suffering. And such blame is apt to proceed from the mouth of someone sailing a smooth sea.

To rebuke someone for admitting that their trials hurt and they don't enjoy them is as stupid and callous as upbraiding a man because his leg hurts all the time. Pain in the soul is every bit as real as pain in the body. Which lives forever, the immortal soul or the perishable body? It's safe to say that the religious expert who exhorts saints to rejoice when they suffer undeserved financial ruin has no first-hand experience of what they are going through, and has got a tidy nest egg stored away for himself somewhere. He rests in the certainty that his own never-ending rainy day shall never come to trouble the blissful blue of his sky.

As for this business of rebuking others who dont thank God for it every time satan attacks them, consider the following verses:

2 PETER 1:3: According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue,

ROMANS 8:32 He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Which "all things" does God freely give us? Does He give us a rattlesnake and tell us to kiss it? If that Scripture is trying to comfort a Christian by promising that God will freely give him cancer, how can that reassure a believer? Nonsense! Peter said that God has given unto us ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO LIFE AND GODLINESS, not things that pertain to death and depression. If it does not pertain to life and godliness, God did not give it to you. Satan did!

How could you possibly have a thankful attitude for EVERYTHING in existence? How could any sane individual give God thanks for the Holocaust? If such unthinkable words were ever expressed, they could never have come through Jewish lips.

The word "compassion" comes from Latin words which literally mean to "suffer with". Romans 12:15 exhorts believers to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep. It doesn't say to rebuke those who weep from the pain of their tribulations. How can a PHD Pharisee who has known only sweet acceptance understand a teenager or adult who has been subjected to protracted periods of bullying or other rejection? How can someone who has known only prosperity and health understand someone who must cope with illness or disability in the family?

God gave us taste buds for a reason, not just so we could discern cordon bleu from MacDonald's. When we taste something foul or bitter, we have reason to suspect that it is poison. Would God not give us at least as much discernment in the spiritual realm as He does in the physical? If satan is trying to destroy me in any way, the experience will have a bitter taste about it, and I have just as much right to spit his food out as I would to spit out sour milk I didn't want to digest. God no more condemns us for spitting out satan's religious lies than he would if we refused to drink spoiled milk. God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). We must know our rights as sons and daughters of God, and one of those rights is to not be beneath the heel of the enemy (Rom.16:20).

Is it a sin to cry instead of rejoice? The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35: Jesus wept. Two short words, but they speak volumes about Jesus' humanity. Jesus knew more of the principles and ways of God than anybody else ever has, and yet He did not go up to the mourners at Lazarus' funeral and chastise them for crying instead of rejoicing and giving thanks. Jesus did not give God thanks for the suffering that Lazarus did, or the suffering Mary and Martha did. But He did give thanks and glory to His Father for the miracle everyone was about to witness (John 11:41-44). And Lazarus rose from the grave, not because Jesus was too spiritual to cry, but because Jesus exercised authority over the dominions of darkness which had put Lazarus into the grave in the first place.

Many of King David's Psalms were composed out of a heart of grief and sadness, as he was hounded by his enemies for many long years. Isaiah the prophet mourned like a dove as he pleaded for God to intervene in his situation (Isaiah 38:14). Many first-century Christians were in heaviness through manifold temptations (trials):II Peter 1:6. Peter was wise enough not to upbraid them for this, even if he does say trials have a purpose for growing faith (verse 7.

It is in such a stressful time that we should stop and ask ourselves: Is the Lord in this, or is the devil trying to get me to swallow rat poison? Jesus Himself drank to the dregs a bitter cup of suffering so we could be saved (Matt. 26:39,42). He had been protected from earlier attempts to kill Him, such as when the townspeople of Nazareth tried to hurl Him off a cliff (Luke 4:28-30). On those occasions He was spared the bitter cup of death, though it eventually came to Him. Many times God's well-meaning people stop resisting satan because they think it is selfish to want to be free of his oppressions. They say all their suffering is from God and they must submit to it. Some say: "Slaves have no rights." True. But Galatians 4:7 says we are no more servants (in the sense of a fearful, cringing slave), but sons. We serve and endure what God appoints out of love, not fear. But if satan is hindering your life and outright destroying you, you have a right to use the weapons of the Spirit to stand up to him (Ephesians 6:10-18).

One time Jesus was asked a trick question: Is it lawful to pay taxes unto Caesar, or not? (Luke 20:22-26). Jesus asked someone for a penny and asked them: Whose image is inscribed upon this coin?

And they said: Caesar's.

Jesus' classical response: Render therfore unto Caesar whatever is Caesar's and unto God whatever is God's.

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient (Dictionary definition: suitable for achieving a desired end): all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not (I Cor.10:23).

This is a very wise teaching. Even if you don't consider it a sin to take the occasional glass of wine, it is better to just have a Coke when you are around believers who differ with you on that issue. As Christians, the "desired end" which we wish to achieve is to edify our brothers and sisters in the faith, and to be a good example around sinners. Far better to draw their attention to the New Wine of the Holy Spirit which fills our hearts with a joy this world can never know.

The same principle would apply when you're a meat-eater eating with Christians who think it's wrong to kill animals in a society where "cruelty-free" foods are freely available. No Scripture commands you to eat meat every night, and without making unnecessary waves you can just fellowship with the vegetarian believers over their cashew nut roast as you also partake of the spiritual meat of the Word of God.

But the main thrust of that verse was not what I found shocking, it was the idea of "all things" being lawful. And that verse appears immediately after a stern warning from Paul about not partaking of "the cup of devils" and the "table of devils". How, then, can Paul seemingly contradict himself and say that "all things" are lawful? Doesn't the all-inclusive collection of "all things" in existence also include the cup of devils and the table of devils?

In reading that chapter you immediately realize you must keep the words "all things" in their proper context. The remainder of I Corinthians 10 clarifies which "all things" Paul means, those which pertain to eating and drinking. Paul wasn't talking about such things as crack cocaine being lawful for us. He wasn't talking about Ouija Boards or Tarot Cards being okay. He was talking about all things God created in the way of food and drink!

That passage alone should reassure Christians who think that Eph.5:20 commands them to give God thanks for heartbreaking illnesses, disasters and other works of satan in their lives. To thank someone for something is to accept it and give no resistance to it. But you can either thank God for something or you can thank somebody else. Who gives you temptations which can lead you to hell if you accept them and carry them out? The devil does! God would never tempt a Christian to go join some cult which promises an easier way to bliss. The devil sends such temptations, and God does not desire or require thanks for things which satan sends to dishonor Him. He is, however, to be thanked for sending the power of His Spirit to keep you on the Narrow Way to Life whenever you are tempted by satan to stray. In that way the Lord can get glory out of your struggle against temptation.

In Luke 20:25 Jesus says that Caesar has those things that belong to him and God has those things that belong to Him. Give Caesar (or whoever) what belongs to him, and to God what is due unto Him. If satan sends you a lemon you can sometimes make lemonade out of it. But if he sends you a temptation to go run away with your neighbor's wife, that lethal temptation did not come from God. You should always thank God for victory in trial, but you should also objectively ascertain the correct giver of the destructive elements of the trial. God is a good God and the devil is a bad devil. Thanks for every good and perfect gift is due unto the Father of Lights (James 1:17).

Are we commanded to give thanks for all things which exist in our world, without first checking to see whose trademark is on that thing, and whether it glorifies satan or God? God speaks through Jeremiah the prophet in denouncing things which are displeasing unto Him: And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance (the Land of Israel) with the carcases of their detestable and abominable THINGS (Jere.16:18). Ezekiel receives a similar word from the Lord for apostate Israel: Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable THINGS, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee, neither shall mine eye spare, neither shall I have any pity (Ezek. 5:11).

I doubt that any sane Israelite would have dared to thank God for the existence of "detestable things" in his land. God would surely not have been pleased with such a prayer of thanks!

We live under a more enlightened Covenant. There are things in existence which God still hates and considers abominable. Surely He doesn't desire that we give thanks for them, but war against them in the Spirit instead.

Must we go on being satans doormats instead of resisting him? God can and does use pain and misery to teach His children when He cant get their attention any other way. But if your trial is literally destroying your peace of mind, ripping your family apart, making you homeless or sending you to an early grave, check to see if it has the signature of satan upon it. His signature is, essentially: Steal, Kill, and Destroy (John 8:38). Then, if you insist on thanking anyone for your own destruction, render thanks unto whom it is due, not unto your Loving Heavenly Father, Who sent His only begotten Son to give us life, and life more abundantly.