Thank God for the Fleas

 In her book The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom tells the story of learning to give thanks in the most challenging of circumstances.  While prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII, Corrie and her sister, Betsie, found comfort in studying the Bible.  Upon reading Paul's command to, "Give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thess. 5:18), the two women wondered what they had to be thankful for in the midst of the horrors of the Holocaust.  To make matter worse, the two sisters had been moved into a barracks ridden with fleas.  Surely this pit of despair was devoid of anything for which to give thanks.  As Corrie and Betsie reflected on Paul's words, they began to realize that the fleas in their barracks had kept the Nazi soldiers away, allowing the women to study the Bible freely.  This realization led the two sisters to thank God for the fleas.  The two women discovered that, even in the darkness of WWII, there were still things to be thankful for. 

Joy and gratitude are closely linked.*  Those who choose to be thankful find greater satisfaction in their lives than those who do not practice gratitude.  I believe that most people want to be thankful people.  The challenge is that gratitude is easy when life moves smoothly but becomes much more difficult when life takes a turn.  As parents, one of the greatest lessons we can teach our children is to look for God's blessings even in the midst of challenging times.

The Replacement Principle is the practice of looking for the blessings in the midst of life's challenges.  It is derived from Paul's words in Philippians 4:8.  In this passage, Paul exhorts Christians to think on things that are honorable, just, pure, true, lovely, commendable, excellent, or praiseworthy.  When we encounter challenges in our lives, we have a choice to make.  We can wallow in our misery or we can look for God's blessings.  To look for these blessings, we need to ask ourselves, "Is there anything in this situation that can be deemed honorable, excellent, pure, true, lovely, commendable, or praiseworthy?"  We should then give thanks for the blessing we have identified.  Even in situations that appear black and devoid of any goodness, we can trust that God is working to protect us and provide for us (Romans 8:28).  If nothing else, thank God for the work you know He is doing in your life.

It is important to state that the Replacement Principle is not an attempt to view life through rose-colored glasses.  We should not ignore the challenges we face in life or run away from them.  Practicing the Replacement Principle is not an attempt to ignore the difficulties in life but an attempt to focus on God's work in our lives in the midst of the storms of life.  God has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5-6).  The Replacement Principle's goal is to help us identify God's work and blessings in our lives.

A spirit of gratitude is one of the most powerful weapons we posses in the spiritual war for man's souls.  Our adversary, Satan, is actively seeking to destroy the souls and lives of all mankind.  One of the tools he often employs in this pursuit is misery.  Satan attempts to make life so miserable and unbearable that we choose to give up fighting.  By practicing gratitude and the Replacement Principle, we thwart the plans of Satan and his minions.

We cannot always choose our circumstances in this life, but we can choose how we will respond.  One of the greatest lessons we can teach our children is to use the Replacement Principle and follow the example of Corrie and Betsie by thanking God for the fleas in our lives.


Brene Brown, Daring Greatly: How Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, (New York: Penguin Random House, 2012), 123-127.

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