Written October 2024

The Bible talks about a “sacrifice of thanksgiving”: “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who sets his way properly I will show the salvation of God.” (Psalm 50:23 NASB). It even goes so far as to say that such an offering honors God. What is an offering of thanksgiving, anyway? Aren’t we thankful for good things? How can good things be a sacrifice?

God taught me the meaning of “offering of thanksgiving”—And He did it by allowing me to break my arm!

Let’s first back up to the beginning of the story. As a full-time caregiver for my husband, one of the many blessings God gave me was the opportunity to be able to regularly partake in my favorite sport: horseback riding. Although I had ridden as a younger adult, I now became serious about my riding. I wanted to be the best rider possible. I even wanted to start teaching riding lessons to handicapped children and to do that, I needed to officially take my Rider Certification Level Two. I dutifully studied, I spent every moment that I could riding and practicing, and I was ready for my test.

Meanwhile, I was fighting another battle, a battle with long-term care. I knew it was time for my husband to go into long-term care, but I was having a terrible time dealing with guilt. I had promised him that as long as I was physically able to care for him, I would not put him in long-term care, and I had no physical problems. Nonetheless, the behaviors associated with his type of dementia were wearing me down psychologically and emotionally. God told me it was time. My kids told me it was time. Only my own guilt said it was not yet time.

The call finally came. My husband would be admitted on Tuesday of the following week. That Saturday I went out for my riding lesson. I was riding a different horse, one that was in training. He had a beautiful walk and trot, but he needed to work on his transition into a canter, as he liked to buck when he transitioned. I had ridden him through his bucking many times. Nonetheless, on that particular day, he decided to buck twice, and his second buck was far bigger than the first. I was thrown into the rail of the arena, scraping my elbow and hitting my upper arm. At that point I knew I was not going to stay on the horse, so I planned my fall. Unfortunately, I also landed on the same shoulder. An X-ray later confirmed what my riding instructor probably already knew: I had broken my humerus.

I still had three more days to take care of my husband at home. How was I going to do that without my dominant arm? Couldn’t the fall have waited a week—until he was already in long-term care? And why couldn’t I have broken my non-dominant arm?

Nonetheless, there I was, my dominant arm broken and held in a stabilizer.

The first two days went well. My husband helped me more than he had helped with his care in months. That last day before he was to go into long-term care, however, he once again became difficult. As I sat on the floor, in a protective stance to prevent any further injury to my arm, it occurred to me that I was physically no longer able to take care of my husband. And with that realization, 75 percent of the guilt I was carrying just vanished.

The following day, a friend of mine drove me home from the nursing home. She is a retired social worker, and she made an interesting observation: “Lyn,” she said, “I think you should count your broken arm as a blessing. You have been through a lot. Even if it doesn’t feel like it right now, your body needs to rest. Your broken arm will force you to do that.”

I wouldn’t realize the wisdom of those words until until a few days later, and it would be two weeks later before I would completely appreciate God’s timing and God’s ways in my broken arm. You see, I was forced to slow down. I couldn’t do anything on my own, I couldn’t even drive. I was completely reliant on everyone to take me to see my husband, chop my vegetables for salad, wash my hair… The simplest things, like getting dressed in the morning, took three times longer than it should have, and as a result, I accomplished very little in each day; nonetheless, I was so tired. I realized then the truth in what my friend said: My body did need to rest, and had it not been for my broken arm, I likely would not have given my body the time it needed to heal.

Interestingly, because of where my arm was broken, I didn’t require a cast, and I also didn’t require surgery. Either would have made my life even harder. The day I realized that was the day I recognized God’s hand had been on me the entire time. He allowed that arm to break so that I could live guilt free, and so I could allow my body the time it needed to heal. But He took care that the break was in just the right place, so that I wouldn’t have to go through the trauma of surgery or casting! What an amazing God! What a wonderful Father!

We are told to give thanks for all things: “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB). This includes the bad as well as the good, and in case you think I’ve just written something between the lines, consider James 1:2, “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials…” (NASB). This means that when bad things are allowed to happen, we are to thank God. This is the lesson God taught me when I broke my arm. I don’t complain that I broke it. Rather, I rejoice in the God Who delivered me from the feelings of guilt, Who delivered me from the potential illnesses that could have come over me had I not listened to my body and rested after my husband was placed in long-term care, Who saved me from having the trauma of surgery.

But wait. How does all of this tie into a “sacrifice of thanksgiving” that “honors God” (See Psalms 50:23)?

Just this: The bad things that happen in our lives are a sacrifice. When we turn around and give thanks to God for these bad things, we are offering Him a “sacrifice of thanksgiving”, one that will honor Him!

What bad thing have you experienced, either recently or in your lifetime? Have you cursed God for His lack of protection? Or have you given Him thanks for His timing and protection from worse harm, and for carrying you through? If you’ve chosen the latter, you have indeed embraced the concept of giving God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, one that will honor Him!

In His love,
Lyn


Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries