Blessing of "Didn't"

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my father!
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not:
As thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth.
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see:
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

We have Strength for today, Hope for tomorrow and blessings that we can see, with thousands more that we don't see. Think about the blessing of what "didn't" happen to you.

Maybe,

• You didn't get the flu when everyone else at work did.


• Your car didn't break down when you didn't do the maintenance on it.


• You remembered to turn off the iron at the very last minute before you went away for the weekend.

The blessings of "what didn't" are as big as the ones that we count as blessings.

• Grant didn't have his event in his bed.


• Teresa didn't go with me to Italy.


• Teresa didn't get ready on time, so she was in the kitchen.

We really need to count and recount our blessings and think hard at what they are and what we could have received, but didn't.

Col. 1:11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Patience with joy is a new thing to me. There have been times when I have been patient, though this would not be the first character trait people would use to describe me, and there have been times when I have been joyful, the same is true for this character trait. But what about being patient with joy. For me these 2 don't go together. When I'm in a trial I can be patient, and I can think about God's will for me to be patient and sometimes God has granted it, but to have true joy in a trial and be patient at the same time is only from God. God can change us to be like His Son who had joy going to the cross for our sins. "Who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross.."

Remembering the "didn't" helps me to rejoice in God while I'm in something. Again, this is new for me, old for some of you, and some haven't really thought about it. I pray that God would continue His work in refining me. There's a lot of junk to get out.

Pray for Wally his wife Cheri. His numbers were up to about 3000 at the start of his chemo treatment and have gone down as far as about 800, which the doctors were thrilled with, but I talked to John this morning and they are back up to about 2800. There is no cure for his cancer, and he really does feel great, but this is probably not a good sign. Wally is a kind and sweet friend who is going through a time of refining of his own. He has been demonstrating to me patience with joy. Thanks Wally.

We can rejoice with Hope knowing that God is our Good Shepherd,
Chuck

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