Tuesday, October 9, 2018

An Unusual Thanksgiving: Trials and Faithfulness


If you do social media, and if your feed was anything like mine, the last week has been a steady stream of warm fuzzy Thanksgiving type posts. Family gatherings, food, pumpkin spice lattees, happy people smiling, and fall colours. A few even went so far as to name lists of what they were thankful for – all positive blessings like safety, food, health, relationships, and employment. These are all good things indeed worth praising and thanking our gracious Lord for.

One post stood out in particular because it was such a contrast from the others. A friend expressed his thanks for trials. I know this friend’s life story enough to fill in the blanks of what trials are being spoken of.  They are big picture trials of the vocation, health, and relationship kind.

Taking a lead from the story of Job in the Old Testament, this friend explained that true, deep, and abiding faith holds by the Lord’s faithfulness not only when the barns are full, friends are a plenty, and prime health is enjoyed. This deep, life sustaining faith holds fast even the lowest depths through which life can present. Job cried out “Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him.” (Job 13:15) This is the faith that is mostly highly valued since it keeps us in step with our Saviour and the hope of heaven.

Whether life is thick with prosperity or thin with adversity, we want our students (and our school!) to grow in faithfulness. I appreciated the reminder that both are formative and have the ability to draw us toward Christ in all we do and say. What a delight that we can frame our student’s learning with this truth in our Christian school.

SJ

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