By Pastor Bob DeKlavon
In counseling couples for marriage, I encourage them to avoid absolute terms.
These are terms like: ‘always’ and ‘never’ or ‘every.’
In a moment of frustration, a wife may say to her husband: “You never take out the garbage on time!!” Like most people, what runs through his mind is: "Wait a minute, I remember July 9th, two years ago, I did!”
That one exception breaks the rule of the absolute—thus destroying the argument in his mind.
You may have heard people say that they don’t believe in absolutes. Simply reply by asking them if they are sure there are no absolutes. They'll likely say, “Absolutely!”
My wife’s father had a series of sayings that stood well over the course of time. I cannot recount the number of times I heard someone say, "That could never happen again.” In his quiet voice, I can still hear him say: “never say never.”
I often circle around to two verses of scripture that speak of absolutes...
On March 20th, I focused the blog on Philippians 4:6. Paul uses two absolute statements in reminding us to keep our reliance on the Lord. Remember what they are?
Be anxious for...NOTHING.
But in EVERYTHING…bring your requests to God.
This is a practice that needs to be cultivated continually among those who are God’s children.
Then, I have already referred once to a verse that is impossible to do without the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says:“In EVERYTHING give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (emphasis mine)
How in the world is this possible?
Notice Paul does NOT say FOR everything give thanks. It is while we are ‘in’ everything that we give thanks.
WHY?
The Christian’s life should not be dictated by the circumstances in which they find themselves.
I will write more on this in a later blog, but all of our faith comes down to this: "Do I trust the Father?”
And…do I trust Him ALWAYS?
We may have no clue what is going to happen in terms of our present circumstances. But how often do we say that we know the One Who does?
So, give thanks to God IN EVERYTHING—trusting Him ALWAYS—knowing He will NEVER abandon us!