What do we truly desire: God's will for our lives or God to approve of our own will for our lives? The two are often not the same. Most have heard of Corrie Ten Boom. Many are not familiar with her sister, Betsie who didn't make it through the concentration camp. These Christian women who were sent to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp for hiding Jewish people in their house and underwent brutal treatment and conditions. Corrie was starting to lose it when she was nauseated from the stench, banged her head on the slats of the upper bunk, felt cramped in her quarters, then began to get bitten up by the fleas. Betsie was deep in prayer as Corrie was complaining. She then excitedly told her to turn to the portion of the Bible they were reading that morning from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." In order Betsie had Corrie pray a prayer of thanks. They thanked God that they were assigned to the same camp. They then thanked God that they weren't inspected on entering so that they could keep their Bible. Betsie then thanked God for the overcrowded conditions since this only increased the number of women they could potentially share the hope of Christ with. Corrie reluctantly prayed for that last one. Betsie then thanked God for the fleas, which Corrie initially refused to do. Betsie reminded her to give thanks in all circumstances. Corrie reluctantly went along but thought that her sister was wrong with that last prayer request. Though the prison guards swarmed around the food lines and the barracks, they never entered their dormitory. Betsie and Corrie timidly began a Bible study in the back. Then, since the guards never entered, they became bolder and the Bible study grew. A while later Betsie found out the reason why. No German would dare enter a closed area infested with fleas. So, Betsie was right in thanking God for the fleas. We might not understand why certain things occur, but God can use anything and everything and can make the seemingly impossible, possible.

As we continue through the letters of Paul, unless we are blind to his circumstances we see a man who was often separated from his friends, often unjustly accused, and brutally treated. As Billy Graham put it, "if any man had a right to complain, it was this man, languishing almost forgotten in a harsh Roman prison. But instead of complaints his lips rang with words of praise and thanksgiving! This was the apostle Paul, a man who had learned to give thanks even in the midst of great adversity." In prison Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:19-20, "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,". In another prison letter, we read Paul's words in Philippians 4:11-13, "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

So, if you were asked to follow God's will for your lives as Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, would you respond with the words, "I would, but you don't understand what I'm going through." Too often, we walk through our lives thinking that we have it worse than everyone else. We somehow believe that our situation is unique. But each and every one of us is surrounded by and have experienced the death of loved ones, personal injury and illness, family difficulties, financial woes, etc. Paul did not advise us to rejoice, pray, and give thanks only if everything was great in our lives. No, he encourages us to do these things whether life is going along smoothly or not. We read in Hebrews 12:1, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,". We have the examples of so many who withstood so much in the face of danger and hardship. Besides the likes of Paul, and Corrie and Betsie ten Boom, our best example is our Lord Jesus Christ, who being completely innocent suffered and died on the cross for our sins. It's time that we consider our words. To be thankful despite our circumstances requires us to submit our wills to God. We must understand and believe that when His will differs from our own will, His will is better.