A Gratitude Parable

Many years ago a young widow took her only son down to the river for a picnic. When she was not looking the boy wandered too close to the water and slipped in. He cried out for his mother as the raging current swept him away. Overcome by terror she screamed for help as she tried to wade in after him. But she could not swim and so was unable to reach the boy. 

Nearby a man was having a picnic with his wife and children. Hearing the young mother's plea for help, and the cries of a child in peril he sprung into action. Without thought for his own life he plunged into the icy waters and swam toward the boy. Jagged rocks slashed and battered his body, but he did not waver. Finally he reached the lad and grabbed hold of him. He pulled him to shore and then with his bruised and bloodied arms he carried the child to his mother and laid him unharmed upon her grateful heart. 

The gratitude of that young mother never wavered through the years. Every time she looked at her son she thought of the man who had snatched him from the jaws of death. Every time she saw or spoke to the man her heart welled up with love and gratitude. Each day her son lived was for her as if her child were once again being restored to her. 

The two families grew close. So close that the man and his wife became like a dear aunt and uncle to the boy. Their children were as close as brothers and sisters. They celebrated holidays together and comforted each other in sorrow. The young widow who had once been alone in the world except for her son, now had a family who loved them both.

While he was still small the boy was always filled with delight when he saw his savior. He would run to the man's arms and shower him with hugs and kisses. But as he grew and became a teenager he became sullen and rebellious. He would roll his eyes when his mother would tell, yet again, the story of how a stranger risked his life to restore her son to her. He was tired of being thankful for something that happened so long ago. 

The man felt the boy's love grow cold, but his affection was undiminished by it. For like the boy's mother, he too remembered that fateful day. He recalled the trembling body of a shaken but alive child as he carried him to safety. He could still hear the sobs of joy and relief from the young mother who felt she owed him everything. He still bore the scars from the rocks that tore his flesh that day. He wore them with love like badges of honor. Though it hurt that the rebellious teen rejected him, the man loved him still.

As he grew to manhood and began to see the precarious nature of things and how very precious life is the boy's heart softened and gratitude for his hero sprung up anew in his soul. Before too long he had a family of his own and he even named his first son, John, after the man who rescued him from death. A truly grateful heart will never remain silent for long.

And so it is with God and me.

The struggle I face now is how to be more like the young mother in this story and less like the sullen teen. Christ has rescued me from Styx, that river of sin and death. And He carries on His body the scars from that day. Since then He has brought me through many trials and troubles. But still when new struggles arise that are not instantly quelled, I often get an attitude of "what have you done for me lately?" This is, I think, a part of the process of Christian maturity. We start out grateful and joyful like the child in the story. We joyfully run to God raising up our hallelujah hands and shouting, "praise His holy name".  But all too soon we grow jaded and bitter when a constant stream of Glory isn't instantly driving away all our problems or setting off spiritual fireworks every morning. It takes time, I suppose, before we begin to see things as He does. Before we grow up and remember all that He has done, and before we see all that He continues to do.

Every good thing God has ever done for me in the past to preserve me or bring me to this point, is in a very real sense still being done. I should be just as grateful at this very moment for every job I've ever gotten, every financial benefit, every healing, every crisis resolved in years past as I was on the day He blessed me. For if He had not preserved me then, I would not be here now. Then IS now. God is not bound by time or space. That which He began in me, is being continued to completion (Phil. 1:6). So it is impossible for momentary trouble to overcome or nullify the blessings of the past or the hope of the future (2 Cor. 4:17). They are not in fact past blessings at all, but present ones. And so I must, like the young mother in this story, be eternally grateful for all that God has done. I must never forget His faithfulness but continue to bring it to mind with rejoicing as if it had just happened. There He will meet me in the midst of praise. (Isa 64:5)

This is especially true when I am struggling. When I need a job or promotion, to remember and thank Him for every job and promotion I've ever gotten. When I am sick to recall and rejoice over every healing I have ever received. When I am stressed and overwhelmed to testify to anyone who will hear it of all the times He has lifted my burdens or come to my aid. When I am confused and frustrated to praise Him for every word of wisdom He has ever whispered or precious revelation He has ever sung over me.  (Psalm 77:10-12)

The end of it is this: The blessings of yesterday are the Grace of God for the struggles of today and the praise and hope for my every tomorrow. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits." (Psalms 103:2)

SCRIPTURES TO PRAY OVER:

Deuteronomy 7:17-19
“If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them? ’— you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

Psalms 77:10-12
And I said, “This is my anguish; But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds.

Psalms 105:5
Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.

Psalms 111:4
He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

Isaiah 63:7
I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord And the praises of the Lord, According to all that the Lord has bestowed on us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses.

Isaiah 64:5
You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.