In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
In Australia, May 28 has been designated National Thanksgiving Day. The idea is to send messages to people who have been a help, encouragement or blessing to you in the past year. It's not a bad idea to be reminded to be thankful to those we may otherwise take for granted and bless them back.
However God's will for us is that we maintain a thankful spirit. there are many, many scriptures which encourage the giving of thanks to God, and after all it is "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28); every breath we take is a gift and worthy of our thanks.
People often have a problem with the idea of being thankful for everything and I can understand that. In the past I have been quick to point out that this verse in Thessalonians does say "IN everything" and not FOR everything, but as I searched for this verse I came across Ephesians 5:20 which does indeed say "giving thanks always FOR all things to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ". Mmmmm, I had to reconsider my thoughts and modify my 'theology' because it can be very difficult to give thanks FOR everything; so why would we do it? How do you give thanks for impossible life situations, tough times, trouble, persecution, tragedy and so on?
In Thessalonians it states clearly that thankfulness is God's will for us. His will is always for our benefit. The benefit of thankfulness is that it takes our eyes off our situation and turns them towards God - that's always beneficial for us. When we turn towards God and look into his word we find comfort, strength and hope for a future that will be better. After all doesn't his word tell us that his plans for us are to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11)? His will is to bless us; just the same as we want to bless our children and see them do well in this world. So how does that work?
I don't believe that God sends us trials to make us miserable, but he allows them to come in order to develop our character and to grow us in areas of patience, perseverance and faith; to give us life experiences in which we learn to lean on him and receive comfort from him so that we can be a comfort to others who experience similar trials (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). there is nothing like receiving encouragement from someone who knows what you are going through because they have been there themselves.
To see that God can use trials for our benefit and blessing is to enable us to give thanks in and for everything. When we can do that we are growing in trust and faith and God is pleased with us. Keep trust that the end will come, darkness will turn to dawn, mourning into dancing, weeping to joy. Relief is on its way and thanksgiving will make our burdens lighter as we trust our God.
Prayer: Dear Father, thank you for your promise of a future filled with hope. Thank you for your faithfulness to me which is constant in spite of my weakness. Amen
