The Five Rings to Combat Suffering Pt. 1 The Planetary Rings - Give Thanks For The Fleas
The Hiding Place
I want to open with a short passage from a book titled, “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie and her entire family were caught hiding and helping Jews during the Holocaust and sent off to concentration camps. The book is her testimony of God’s providential care during such a chaotic and wicked time.
How can we live in a place like this said Cory, show us how?” Betsie said matter-of-factly. It took Corrie a moment to realize that her sister was praying. “Corrie!” Betsie then exclaimed excitedly. “He’s given us the answer! Before we asked, as He always does! In the Bible this morning. Where was it? Read that part again!”
Corrie checked to make sure no guards were nearby, then drew from a pouch a small Bible she had managed to smuggle into the concentration camp. “It was in First Thessalonians,” she said, finding the passage in the feeble light. “Here it is:
Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus …’ ” (1 Thessalonians 5:14-18).
Give Thanks in All Circumstances
“That’s it!” Betsie interrupted. “That’s His answer. ‘Give thanks in all circumstances!’ That’s what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this barracks!”
Corrie stared at her incredulously, then around at the dark, foul-smelling room. “Such as?” she inquired.
“Such as being assigned here together.”
Corrie bit her lip. “Oh yes, Lord Jesus!”
“Such as what you’re holding in your hands.”
Corrie looked down at the Bible. “Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all the women, here in this room, who will meet You in these pages.”
Grateful For A Flea
“Yes,” agreed Betsie. “Thank You for the very crowding here. Since we’re packed so close, that many more will hear!” She looked at her sister expectantly and prodded, “Corrie!”
“Oh, all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed, suffocating crowds.”
“Thank you,” Betsie continued on serenely, “for the fleas and for …”
That was too much for Corrie. She cut in on her sister: “Betsie, there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.”
“Give thanks in all circumstances,” Betsie corrected. “It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.” So they stood between the stacks of bunks and gave thanks for fleas, though on that occasion Corrie thought Betsie was surely wrong.
As the weeks passed, Betsie’s health weakened to the point that, rather than needing to go out on work duty each day, she was permitted to remain in the barracks and knit socks together with other seriously-ill prisoners. She was a lightning-fast knitter and usually had her daily sock quota completed by noon. As a result, she had hours each day she could spend moving from platform to platform reading the Bible to fellow prisoners. She was able to do this undetected as the guards never seemed to venture far into the barracks.
One evening when Corrie arrived back at the barracks Betsie’s eyes were twinkling. “You’re looking extraordinarily pleased with yourself,” Corrie told her.
“You know we’ve never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room,” Betsie said, referring to the part of the barracks where the sleeping platforms were. “Well—I’ve found out. This afternoon there was confusion in my knitting group about sock sizes, so we asked the supervisor to come and settle it. But she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t step through the door and neither would the guards. And you know why?” Betsie could not keep the triumph from her voice as she exclaimed, “Because of the fleas! That’s what she said: ‘That place is crawling with fleas!’ ”
Corrie’s mind raced back to their first hour in the barracks. She remembered Betsie bowing her head and thanking God for creatures that Corrie could see no use for.
Trust And Rely On God
Sometimes life’s storms seem so chaotic and out of control that we can’t imagine how god could possibly still be sovereign.
God does not cause evil but he does promise to weave it into good. “God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him who are called according to his purpose.
When the storm hits and we start asking ourselves where is God when we feel things are not as they should be and our life is spiraling down.
When we face suffeRING of chaos and uncertainty, I want you to remember and call to mind the first ring analogy, the planetary rings of our solar system.
The Precision Of The Planets
I was talking with my dad the other day after watching a space documentary. Now for those of you who don’t know, I did really well in later years but I pretty much failed 5th grade. So, II knew outer space had no gravity and I knew there was lower oxygen, but I didn’t know just how low the breathable oxygen really was till watching the show. I asked him how the oxygen around earth doesn’t just disperse into outer space he gave me the “didn’t we send you to school” look but proceeded to explain how amazingly precise our solar system is. I want to read your Google explanation.
A planet needs to have a magnetic field. This is a result of the Earth’s liquid iron core movement. The magnetic field helps to shelter Earth from damaging solar radiation. If the field was smaller, the radiation would strip away the Earth’s atmosphere.
An atmosphere is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelope a planet and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low.
The atmosphere keeps the oxygen on our planet instead of it dispersing into outer space
So basically what I’m getting at here is there is an insanely precise insanely intricate system in place just to make sure you have enough air to breathe. If one little detail we’re out of place we would not be here. But God doesn’t miss a thing. And he doesn’t miss a thing when it comes to your life either. Every single detail is woven together before one of them came to be. He knew us in our mother’s womb.
God Is Greater Than The Highs And Lows
Nothing is out of control nothing has taken him by surprise. As the meme goes, we don’t know what tomorrow brings but we know who holds tomorrow. The one who does is good. He is love. He does not have plans to harm you he has plans
“To prosper you to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 24
Therefore we do not need to worry.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered.” Matthew 10:29
So don’t be afraid you are worth more than many sparrows.
When the storms rage and life seems out of control, call to mind the planetary rings. Call to mind all of the intricate details God holds in place every day and remain in faith that he will hold your delicate life together in the same way he is holding together the delicate details of the universe. Remind yourself that every evil thing will be redeemed and used for good. Even annoyances like fleas.