Prophesy from Daniel Tiger

If you have small children, you likely understand what it is to be grateful for a small singing tiger who entertains your child while you shower for the first time in five days. He doesn’t do anything scary, he is kind, he is introducing very basic Jesus following principals. I have been heard saying multiple times I’m sure , “God bless Daniel Tiger” because I’m thankful for him.  After all, we are all children and so, many of us have not even learned these basic Daniel Tiger lessons  (insert finger pointing at myself). I have received conviction from Daniel Tiger before in regards to sharing, cleaning up after myself and going to bed at a reasonable hour, and sometimes when I feel so mad that I want to roar I take a deep breath and count to four. It’s hard to grow up, especially while fighting against this sin epidemic that has touched myself and everyone around me. One thing that I am asking God to teach me most lately is to be thankful. It’s not really hard for me to be thankful since I have so so much to be thankful for. It is easy to be thankful for those things that the world validates as good like a house, a car, food, clothes, love, friends, a husband, tea, down comforters… the list goes on and on. I am surrounded by mostly good. I could easily fill my heart and mind for days in being thankful and acknowledging these good things that God has given. But the principle of gratitude doesn’t stop at all things perceivably good by me and by the world. It goes a little deeper. To be thankful for the things that God has given that are not so perceivably good is what takes us a little deeper into the heart of Jesus. Is this really possible and is this really something God asks of us? Some things that are not perceivably good are still reasonably easy to be thankful for. I am thankful that I have thousands of diapers to change because it means my three babies are healthy and it’s teaching me to have a servants heart, what a joy. It’s easy for me to be thankful for sleepless nights because it gives me opportunity to pray and worship. It’s easy for me to be thankful while I am cleaning my floor for the thousandth time in one week because I have floors and a house and beautiful babies that dirty them.  But some things that are not perceivably good are really really bad and are so much harder to be thankful for, like illness, unbelieving family members, the loss of a loved one. Here is where I come to my struggle and I think a struggle for many. I don’t want to be thankful  about death and illness and separation even though these are things that God has permitted and are part of His plan for the sanctification of my heart. These things are what the introduction of sin into the world has birthed. What started as a seed in a simple act of disobedience  has now gestated and  is being wretched out in a hideous picture of pain and suffering that we now see in the world. But let me assure you, I’m not confused about a command of gratitude even for these hard things.

1 Thess 5: 16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Rejoice always, give thanks in ALL circumstances;  not only when its easy or vaguely hard or when you feel like it…… always. Always, find a way to say, “though you slay me Lord Jesus I will trust in you and I will worship you because of the choices you have made for my life and the circumstances you have allowed and ordained for the goodness and betterment of my soul.” Every moment of our lives is dripping with God ordained love, unearthly teaching, righteous workmanship and a father whispering, saying, shouting, “come to me! I am the way! I will bring rest unto your soul!”  and how do we say, “yes” to Him? By giving thanks. By trusting that He is good. He is still good when children die. He is still good when pain stays. He is still good when tidal waves come, when bombs are dropped, when death prevails.

I have been thankful that most of the time, for the past two years since I lost someone that I love, that  God has given me wisdom and strength to choose joy in this pain, to thank Him for that death. But sometimes I fail and I am not thankful for it and that ingratitude ushers in a spirit of ingratitude that latches on to things that I used to find easy to be thankful for and things that even the world perceives as good and easy to be thankful for. Ingratitude is sin in every circumstance…every single one.

  Yesterday we drove out to central Oregon for a family vacation. This is a place that for me is dripping with memories of my childhood vacations with my dad. The smell of sage will forever more make me teary I think. At home I’m safe from these good good memories as I encounter the same tastes and smells and scenes for the most part. But whenever we go anywhere but home new memories arise and I have a choice; praise God for the blessings or be ungrateful for not having things the way that I would have chosen, with my dad here and not in heaven. The grumpy set in on the drive as I thought about how wonderful it would be to see my dad with my girls and my son, how much joy they would have brought him and how much it would have brought me to see them hug and snuggle and laugh. If you knew my dad you can imagine how much intense joy two little identical girls would bring him. I can be resentful about not getting to see that joy on his face, not getting to have what would have been a huge amount of help from him just holding them while Reed and I took a nap when they were newborns. He could have been there to help teach my son to fish and watch my girls get married, the list is miles long down a road that only brings pain and anger “God you took that from me” I said in my head. “I’m ungrateful for this path you have chosen, ungrateful for the death of my father.” And my choice to be ungrateful made me ungrateful about pretty much everything  for the next twenty-four hours. It was miserable. But God is so patient and good that He disguised Himself as a little cartoon tiger so that I could hear Him more clearly. Last night as I was holding my son and we watched Daniel Tiger, God spoke to me like I was a little child. Daniel Tiger was playing with his toys and he didn’t want to stop and go to bed because he was having so much fun. Daddy Tiger knew what was best for Daniel, for the sake of Daniels health and happiness he needed to stop, obey and be thankful for all the fun he had and rejoice in the choices his father was making. They sang “That was fun but now it’s done”  and my chest tightened as I thought about how much fun I had with my dad in this life. Jesus sang to me in that moment “That was fun but now it’s done” and as the show finished Jesus said through Daniel Tiger, “But I’ll be back when the day is new and I’ll have more time with your dad for you, and you will have things you will want to talk about, I will too” What a blessing, what a Father. He is gentle to me. I am so thankful. He gives and He takes, blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus. Come quickly new day, come quickly King Jesus.