The House Next Door

We recently moved into a new house that we will be renting. It’s nice, but it’s not awesome. It’s run down, could use some paint and a new carpet. The kitchen is straight of the 70’s. We’re going to wind up loving it. I know that. In fact, it is a great blessing. We figured we’d probably end up in a bug-infesting dump-hole in the bad part of town.

God has blessed us with a wonderful place to live.

But the thing is, we were told the wrong address initially. I did a search of the address we were given and found a YouTube video that walked through it. This house was amazing. Not mansion fancy, but big with beautiful rooms, fire place, giant kitchen, and plenty of spare room. We got super psyched.

Then, we figured out that our house was actually the house next door. A lot smaller and a good deal more run down. No comparison.

I’ll admit, I was disappointed. But then I remembered the places we’ve lived since we got married. Tiny apartments, with family, and even in a giant garage/barn for a few months (infested with cockroaches and crickets). And you know what, in each of those places, we were happy.

Yes, even in the bug-infested garage/barn, we were happy.

God calls us to be thankful in all situations, even ones that look bleak, scary, or hard-to-face. Despite anything that could be going wrong in your relationships, at your job, in your home, at school, etc., God is using this time to grow you into a better person.

But what about when we get hurt? Or what about when we screw our own lives up?

God wants you to be thankful for that too! Even though he doesn’t desire for you to be in pain, when our lives are turned over to him, God never wastes a hurt. He uses everything for good, to build you up into a better and stronger person.

There were times in my life when everything was crashing down. My wife and I had only been married for a year before my addictions nearly ruined everything. Most couples would’ve rather divorced than to go through the garbage we had to go through. But even in the most painful days, I still did my best to be thankful, to realize that God was doing something, even if I couldn’t see it yet.

And comparing my messed up life the someone in the house next door never made me feel any better.

So, wherever you are in your life today, be thankful, if for no other reason than you are still breathing, and God will bless you for it.