“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:16-18 NIV) Yikes! "In all circumstances"? Don't skip the prepositions here — "in everything" or "in all circumstances"......"with thanksgiving…" — what we don't see is "be thankful for everything." The difference is profound. Can we learn to give thanks in every thing and for everything?
While we may never be grateful for certain painful experiences and circumstances in life, we can still be grateful during them. We can still pray with a thankful heart. Why? Because our hope is not in the potential answers to our prayers. Our hope is in the God to whom we pray! In Him we trust. He has given us life itself — freedom, salvation, grace, mercy. He chose us to be His children. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God" (1 John 3:1). Who can't be thankful for that?
The bottom line is that thankfulness is an attitude that we can and must develop. Why are so many not thankful? Many reasons. Perhaps because we think of what we want and do not know how to evaluate or continue to be thankful for what we have received and currently have. We compare themselves with others and feel slighted. It might be good to be thankful that we do NOT have some things we do not want! We should count our own blessings, not those of others. Oh let's be more thankful for how God has blessed us!
My dear friends, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I hope you enjoy the time spent with family and friends
God bless,
Robert Prater
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