The Prison Of Thanklessness

3 posted on June 3, 2009

POSTED IN: Blog Posts, Compassion

In the book, The Holy Wild, Mark Buchanan shares a story from when he was in Uganda. In a little dirt-floored church one Sunday evening the village pastor asked if anyone had anything they wanted to share. A tall, skinny African woman from the back danced to the front,

“Oh, brothers and sisters, I love Jesus so much,” she said.

“Tell us, sister! Tell us!” the Ugandans shouted back.

“Oh, I love Him so much, I don’t know where to begin. He is so good to me. Where do I begin to tell you how good He is to me?”

“Begin there, sister! Begin right there!”

“Oh,” she said, “He is so good. I praise Him all the time for how good He is. For three months, I prayed to Him for shoes, And look!” And with that the woman cocked up her leg so that we could see one foot. One very ordinary shoe covered it, “He gave me shoes.”

The Ugandans went wild. They clapped, they cheered, they whistled, they yelled.

But not me. I was devastated. I sat there broken and grieving. In an instant, God snapped me out of my self-pity and plunged me into repentance. In all my life, I had not once prayed for shoes. It never even crossed my mind. And in all my life, I had not even once thanked God for the many, many shoes I had.

Like Mark, that story just wrecks me. I’ve prayed about a lot of things but I’ve never prayed for shoes. It’s the little things that we take for granted. Things like a roof over our heads, the clothes on our back or the shoes on our feet.

I’m reminded of our little boy Sabato from Tanzania that we sponsor through Compassion International. We exchange letters with him regularly and have been following along with his progress in school. This last letter included this photograph of him.

Did you notice his shoes? He’s wearing girl’s tennis shoes that are at least a size or two small with huge holes in both toes. They’re the kind of shoes we wouldn’t be caught dead with here in the United States. And yet he’s thankful for something to protect his feet (incidentally, we did send money for him to get a new pair of shoes).

How many little things do we overlook every day and miss out on the joy of recognizing God’s provision? This is how Mark Buchanan wrapped up the above story in his book:

Thanklessness becomes its own prison. Persisted in, it becomes its own hell, where there is outer darkness and gnashing of teeth. Thanklessness is the place God doesn’t dwell, the place that, if we inhabit it too often, He turns us over to. “See to it that no one misses the grace of God,” Hebrews says, “and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Thanklessness troubles and defiles many, because first it troubles and defiles the one in whom bitterness takes root.

Do you have some thanklessness you’ve been struggling with lately?

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 at 11:03 am and is filed under Blog Posts, Compassion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

16 Comments

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June 3, 2009

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1 Jim said:

Amazing what God uses to break us.

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June 3, 2009

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2 DK Snyder said:

I love that story. I hope you’re finding challenge and hope in those books.
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June 3, 2009

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3 Ron Mason said:

Yes, in Feb 2008 my mother died. There was only a Will that was created in 1973. In those days my brother and I were still friends. Then for reasons still obscure to me, the communication and love stopped. For a little over twenty years he didn’t visit or call or respond to phone calls, letters or email.
I took care of my mother until she died. Cleaning up her accidents and in the last and final years putting up with some abuse because she was in so much pain and suffering.
My brother still does not help, he wants to be repaid for covering burial expense and wants his half of inheritance.
I have paid out over 10,000 dollars to keep the house running and provide home for myself and others.
He did not help with cleaning of her accidents, never called and never visited, not even the several times she was in hospital. Yet I still have to share with him. I am thousands of dollars in debt and have told him and asked for his help. Yet no response.
I tell you this to say that I thought when he came to the funeral there seemed to be a reconciliation, but has since lapsed back to his old behavior.
Yes I am resentful of this, I pray for the bitterness to leave but every time I think of it, it comes right back.
That’s my story, and nothing else has changed in this matter.
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June 3, 2009

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4 Mike said:

WOW…incredible story! thanks for sharing…its truly awesome.

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June 4, 2009

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5 Shoes and Boots « Endless Thanks said:

[...] and Boots Brad Ruggles wrote an excellent post about Thanklessness. Take a close look at the shoes in the photo he posted of his Compassion child. After reading [...]
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June 4, 2009

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6 Juli Jarvis said:

Brad–I added several shoes to my list of “Endless Thanks” on my new blog! Thanks for the reminder!

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June 8, 2009

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7 Endless Thanks said:

[...] keeping with Brad’s suggestion that we remember to thank God for the little things, I want to add to my list the following things. [...]
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June 11, 2009

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8 Jocelyne said:

I’ve been hit.
Right between the eyes.
And I appreciate it.
This was deeply necessary, and thank
you for sharing it.

Unthankfulness, a cancer…
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June 11, 2009

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9 In regards to memory Monday « Love Is… said:

[...] The Prison of Thanklessness [...]
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June 11, 2009

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10 Tiffany Stuart said:

This grabbed my throat. Thank YOU!

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June 11, 2009

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11 Laure said:

i am currently reading this amazing book and just finished up with the passage you reference here on thanklessness.

i bow low at the mercy of God that He would stress this message to me.

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June 11, 2009

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12 Alisa Hope Wagner said:

This was awesome! Thank you!!!

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June 12, 2009

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13 John Mullett said:

Good Post – Gratefulness or the lack thereof is something God takes very seriously judging by His interaction with Israel in the O.T. especially coming to mind is the exodus from Egypt. Blessings!

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June 17, 2009

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14 Worshipfan said:

Wow….It’s so good to be reminded.

When we recieved a thank-you letter from our compassion child for the gift money we sent for Christmas, I was blown away with the items purchased that he was so thankful for. Grain, drink, shorts and a shirt among other neccesary items.

Perspective on what we have to be Thankful for is very much needed.

I really enjoy what you write Brad!

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August 19, 2009

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15 She wanted a pair of shoes | Leaving a Mark said:

[...] you may want to subscribe. I’m also Rockin’ Robin.I recently saw this on the blog of a guy named Brad Ruggles. It is a quote from a book called “The Holy Wild” by Mark Buchanon. I thought it was [...]
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May 9, 2010

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16 Nicholas King said:

Prison Break is definitely one of the best action suspense TV series. I love the story line, i like T-bag too.**,