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Dr Nick Ohizu The Voice of God
The third level of gratitude deals with thanking God for what he did not do.
Based on the limitations of humanity, we find ourselves confused when we face diverse challenges.
The common response to such challenges is to run to God in prayer asking for his intervention believing the best solution to the crises at that time should be immediate deliverance.
God in his infinite wisdom emanating from his omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent capacities, sees things we do not see and understands the end before the beginning, may choose how to answer.
The reason for his decision will be based on what is best for us not necessarily what we desire.
Many people have failed to access the blessings that come with thanking God for what he has not done because they have not spiritually matured in their walk with God to the level of understanding that denial is not rejection but love.
Thanking God for what he has not done is a revelation of a higher dimension of faith that can only be seen in the lives of matured Christians.
It is only through this level of gratitude that we can express our total dependency on the will of God knowing that his promise to cause all things to work together for our good is definitely a dependable promise.
Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross is the highest dimension of crises ever faced as portrayed in the scriptures.
“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then he said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
He went a little farther and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “Oh My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Again, a second time, he went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, your will be done.”[Mathew 26:36-42, NKJV].
This is a typical example of prayers in the midst of crises. Just because we do not have the capacity to see the end from the beginning, the tendency to ask for immediate relief is very high.
Jesus being the total example for us uses this to teach us to learn to trust God totally. He started by asking the Father to let the cup pass and when he returned for the second time asked for the will of the Father to prevail. At this point. He understood the importance of total dependency on a father that knows the end from the beginning.
Had God answered the first prayer, he would have aborted the plan of redemption for the totality of mankind. Our inability to show gratitude for the things God had not done, blocks us from seeing the reason behind the delays and the denials.
We should learn to understand that our worship and relationship with God is not dependent on what the Lord can do but dependent on who he is and what his covenant demands from us.
Apostle Paul who thanked God for not stopping a shipwreck [Acts.28] also revealed the reward and purpose of the crucifixion in so many ways especially in Philippians 2:5-8 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death; even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.
Every crisis will end one day. Every problem you face right now will be solved one day. God may not meet your desired schedule for the solution but he has the power to cause everything to work out together for your good.
The best way to handle things we do not understand is to be grateful to God for the things he has not done.
Thank him for the prayers He did not answer, also thank him for where you are.
You may not be where you want to be but remember that you are no longer where you used to be.
Gratitude to God should not only be for what he has done. He is calling us to a third dimension of gratitude where we begin to thank him for what he has not done.
Believers that live at this level of gratitude leave the devil confused and many times have the last laugh.
Dr Nick Ohizu is the senior pastor of the Empowerment Ministries and the president of the Empowerment School of Wealth both located in Graniteside Harare. He is a successful entrepreneur with vast experience in leadership, mentorship, business and marriage consultancy with a mandate from God to change lives and bless people. Feedback : 0772304917.
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