“Give thanks in all circumstances as this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18

It is easier for most people to be thankful when the sun is shining and life is going as it should. It is another matter entirely when things are not good and the way before you is blocked and the sun is not shining. No matter which way you turn, you hit obstacles, disappointment, and the impossible.

Yet our passage says to give thanks in every circumstance noticing the next verse in this passage says nothing like “except when”. I remember well the dark days when my loved one was drinking excessively several times a week. Life was hard, not just for our loved one, but those who loved that one and had to watch and pray and pray and wait and hope. Some days were harder than others, especially when the challenges of life or ministry were piled on top.

Many times, Bill and I would sit and pray together, our prayers of thanksgiving were sincere as we thanked Him for the simplest of things. We thanked Him for His enduring presence and for our family as they were still many wonderful things to be thankful for.

I think the most important thing I can tell you today friend is this. It is very difficult to give thanks to God when the trials we face become our center. God alone is our center and the Rock we must stand on every day if we are going to survive this season and be able to truly give thanks to God.

Thanksgiving has a strange way of bringing us hope, even as we ask for forgiveness and bring Jesus back into the center. While perhaps in your life, you have someone you love dearly, whose life is not going well, and try as you might, pray as you do, you see no change, no movement. We have faced many days like that. While giving thanks to God is not our natural response it remains something we are called to no matter what. Psalm 100 tells us to come into His gates with thanksgiving… let us do that this week, no matter what you are facing. Find simple things to be thankful for. There is always something!

Dear Father,

Thank you for a new day and for your presence here with me. Thank you for being a God for whom nothing is impossible. I lay my burdens down today, one by one. Thank you that you put no limit on how much I lay down and never will you say, that one is too hard for Me. Thank you for listening to my prayer.

In Jesus Name,

Amen