When Corrie ten Boom was arrested with her family in February 1944 for helping Jews escape the Nazis, she and her sister were sent to the women’s section of a harsh concentration camp. There she found infestations of vermin: lice and fleas.
Instead of being angry about the vermin, she decided to thank God for them. Soon, she found out
that the cruel soldiers would not enter the women’s quarters because they didn’t want to get lice and fleas. And for that, all the women were thankful.
You can read about her moving story in The Hiding Place or see the movie by the same name.
A similar thing happened to Joseph in Genesis 37-50. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, wrongly accused of a crime and sent to prison for years, and forgotten by those he helped. Still, he believed that “it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you,” and, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen. 45:5 and 50:20 NIV).
Now it’s your turn: Write about a time in your life when you were not happy about something or not thankful for something that later turned out to be a good thing. Or write about something strange in your life for which you are thankful.
