“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Words are really important. It is good to pay attention to the words that God chooses to use in His Word. In the verse above notice that it says, “In everything” and not “for everything”. This is a significant difference.
It would really be difficult for us to be thankful for everything that happens to us. For the good and positive things, we would find it much easier, but for the bad and negative things, it is a great struggle.
God is saying to us that whether we find ourselves in a good or bad situation, we should be thankful for this is the will of God for us. For example, suppose we were in the midst of a terrible Texas rainstorm. There is hail, the size of basketballs (exaggeration). It is terrifying and destructive. Yet we should be thankful.
You might be asking yourself; how should I respond to this terrible and terrifying experience? According to this verse, God’s will is for us to be thankful. We should be thankful in the midst of very difficult life experiences.
Over the years, I have been in the midst of some pretty horrible situations. Sometimes I have to try hard to be thankful. How? By being thankful that the situation is not any worse than it is. No matter how bad things are, they can always be worse.
I am thankful that this is an opportunity for God to shower His grace, mercy, and love on the people going through the trial.
I am thankful for the lessons that we can learn only through events like this. Such as how important and powerful prayer is and how it can bring comfort, peace, and strength when it is most needed.
God continues to amaze us by how He can take something bad and turn into good.
You may be in the midst of some very difficult situation. Pray a prayer of thanks to God for the situation.
It helps to remember “that all things work together for good to those who love God” and who are called to “be conformed to the image of His Son.”, Romans 8:28-29. We are all on the journey to be more like Christ and there is still a ways to go.
Pastor Arnold
November 10, 2024