Hey all!
I am thankful for YOU! I say that sincerely, as I get to read and communicate with many of you in your comments.
The verse from Paul “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess 5:18) is often misunderstood. It does not say “for everything” as if God is the originator of the thing you are going through. No. We give thanks because regardless of whether we made a mistake or someone else meant mischief or mother nature just did something unusual, we are never ever alone or without divine assistance. Therefore, since Jesus is on board our ship we are thankful that He will never leave us and that God can overrule our stupidity, mans hostility and natures unpredictability to bring us safely to the other side of the situation.
Having said that, there is a warning about people in the Last Days being “unthankful.”
2 Tim 3:2 says: “For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and UNGRATEFUL. They will consider nothing sacred.” I suspect the ungrateful item is a great checkpoint for us these days.
It is an increasingly obnoxious phenomena of modern American society that people despise government and its efforts. People are increasingly mad and increasingly militant about everything in life. It's a contagious virus. But ingratitude and misery seem to travel together like miserable cellmates from hell. On the other hand, there are two angels that accompany every cell break in the Bible and they are gratitude and contentment.
Success is attracted to resourceful people and there is no more resourceful person in the world than the one who does everything they can do and then chooses to look to God to do what they cannot.
Being thankful IN your circumstance leads to being thankful FOR your circumstance because once God shows up the situation changes.
There are a million reasons why we can be grateful and appreciative for the blessings in our lives. The health, family, peace, provision that surrounds so many of us on every side are often overlooked. Do you have a place to sleep? A comfortable bed? A car? Something to eat? Imagine half a world does not have this. If your roles were reversed, I promise you, they would be thankful.
So what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
#Thanksgiving #GiveThanks