Giving Thanks In Everything

“A man invited a friend to go hear a preacher, saying, “I want you to hear the most thankful preacher I’ve ever heard.” The two men weathered a storm to hear him preach. On the way they thought nobody would be there; that even the preacher wouldn’t come. But when they got to the little country church, there was the preacher seated on the platform. The stranger said to his friend, “He has nobody to preach to. There’s a storm outside. It looks like we will have a flood. He won’t have anything to be thankful for tonight.” “Yes, he will. He’ll thank God for something.” When the preacher stood up, he bowed his head and prayed, “Dear Lord, it is stormy outside. It looks as if the roads will wash away before we can get out of the church tonight. It’s an awful storm. But we’re thankful that it’s not always this way.”*

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Of all the difficult commands in the Scriptures, this one may be as hard as any.  Rarely do we find it hard to be grateful in the good times, when things are going well, when the boat isn’t getting rocked.  But most of us likely struggle to be as thankful when times aren’t so good; when things aren’t going so well; when the boat is taking on water and in danger of being swamped.

            Remember this: Being thankful when life is difficult doesn’t mean we have to enjoy every circumstance we are in.  It doesn’t mean that every experience we have will bring us joy.  But it does mean we are putting our faith in the One Who won’t desert us in the midst of the pain and we trust Him to carry us through it.  When necessary, we thank God through the tears.  We humble ourselves before Him even when it doesn’t make sense to us (cf. Habakkuk 3:17-19).

God loves you!

Mike

*Curtis Hutson, Great Preaching on Thanksgiving, logos.com