The Blessing of Inconvenience

The roads were a mess after over a foot of snow fell on the Rockies so I had to be careful driving to the Urgent Care facility.  It was not the way I wanted to spend Thanksgiving morning but with a sinus infection and an international trip only two days away I knew I needed to get medicine—fast!    The clinic near our house was closed but a sign outside gave an address and time for the only operational urgent care in Colorado Springs.  So I drove there.  A friendly staff efficiently processed me and I was impressed with the care I received.  Unfortunately, only one drug store was open where I could get a prescription filled and it was nowhere near home.  But, it was open and that was amazing.  Ninety minutes later I was home with my prescription.  ​

Yes, half my holiday was spent apart from family.  The closure of clinics was inconvenient for me.  But consider how many places in the world people have no access to medicine or medical care.  Consider how great it was that people could be off from work and celebrate gratitude.  Praise God for the fact that I could get help. 
 
Meditation
Psalm 34:1--I will praise the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.
 
In 1 Samuel 21:11,12 David was in a precarious position.  The servants of King Achish, the leader of Gath he had fled to for help, reported him as a warrior-leader who had killed many of their countrymen.  David was afraid the king would kill him and so he feigned insanity resulting in his expulsion.  Scholars believe David wrote Psalm 34 in gratitude for the Lord’s delivering him from a bad Gath experience.  
            
Is it counterintuitive for someone to praise God after a harrowing and inconvenient episode?  David was continuously forced to flee for his life from King Saul.  He was not safe in Israel nor could he find refuge in Gath—and yet he heartily praised God.  One would think that the natural response from a young man on the run would be to grumble.  
            
If we view inconvenience as troublesome and focus on the disruption it is natural to complain.  And that response reveals our immaturity for it shows the fickle and self-consumed side of our nature.  David chose to see blessing in his hardship.  That’s because his eyes recognized that God was sovereign over his circumstances.  Belief in His sovereignty rendered praise.  David understood that what was inconvenient and painful should not sabotage his faith in heaven.  
            
Another Thanksgiving passes and I’m reminded yet again how much I have to learn about this life and to appreciate the wisdom of David, who could praise the Lord at all times!  Something to think about . . . in reveration!
 
Inspiration
In Africa there is a fruit called the 'taste berry,' so called because it changes a person's taste buds in such a way that everything eaten after it tastes sweet. Giving thanks is the 'taste berry' of Christianity. When our hearts are full of gratitude, nothing that comes our way will be unpalatable to us. Those whose lifestyle is marked by thanksgiving will enjoy a sweetness of life unparalleled by any other.—Robert Strand in The Power of Thanksgiving
 
©2019 Daniel York ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)