What if I don’t feel very thankful?
1 Thessalonians tells me I need to “rejoice always”. Why? Why do I always need to be thankful? Have you ever asked yourself that? I sure don’t feel thankful all the time, and some days all I “think” I have to be thankful for is my next breath. So why does God command us (me) to “rejoice always”.
Paul said he has learned to be satisfied in all circumstances (I Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you). Why? I sure know many circumstances I have read here in bloggyville just this week, where I sure would not have been thankful. I read of painful pasts, health problems, and people enduring struggles that blow my mind. Are you telling me I need to rejoice and they need to be satisfied in the painful circumstances they have been given? Sometimes that just stretches my mind.
Did you know Paul said these words after being forced to leave Thessalonica because of legal action taken against him? There were Jews hostile towards him and his message. He was not in the best of circumstances, jail was being threatened. And during this circumstance, he sat and wrote “rejoice always”, “and give thanks”, “be satisfied”.
What Christ is saying through Paul is that we should give thanks in all things, but we don’t have to be thankful for all things. There is no way someone hurting is thankful for what they are going through, but during this time of suffering they can give thanks. A person just diagnosed with cancer is not thankful they have cancer, but they can give thanks.
Give thanks for Christ dying on the cross, give thanks that through the cancer Christ will walk every step with you, give thanks that Jesus promised never to leave you or forsake you. As Christians we were never promised an easy life, in fact we were warned of the possibility of a more difficult life. But the difference is Christ walking by our side. Paul knew that no matter what he faced (beatings, shipwrecked, prison, and some thorn we don’t know about, etc..) , he was going to be satisfied because having Jesus is having it all.
If you ask any Christian going through a major ordeal, they will say having Jesus by their side as their comfort and guide is the best thing they have right at that moment. Many times those of us on the sidelines, don’t know what to say, what to do; our human nature is to “do” something, something to take the pain away, but only Jesus can do that. What we can do is….PRAY. And let me tell you, those of you I pray for I count it a privilege.
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering,
Though there’s pain in the offering,
Blessed be Your name,
Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise,
When the darkness closes in,
Lord Still I will say Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
PS-I just wanted to make readers of my personal website www.laurelwreathsreflections.com, aware that my RSS reader is not working and most likely is not giving you updates on my posts. I just did not want to lose all of ya’ll =)
What a beautiful post! It IS such a struggle to take our eyes off of our current situation and lift them towards Jesus! And yet, it is when we do just that….we feel His presence, His Love, and His hope, and feel His comfort!!!! Why wouldn’t we take our eyes off of our circumstance and look to Him! It takes practice! And no one likes practicing through pain….your reminder is a timely and important message!
Blessings!
Diane
Great post and message! Being thankful in all circumstances is hard to do when times are tough but so worth the extra effort!
I love this post. So much truth in it. I think you are getting to the same premise as what I will share, but I do want to clarify a point.
I have went through some horrible things in my life. At the time I was told what you said above that I only have to thank God IN all things, but not FOR all things.
Then I was reading my Bible during a very difficult time and came to Ephesians 5:20 that says “Giving thanks always FOR all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;”
I realized that I was actually called to something bigger than myself. To thank the Lord IN all things and FOR all things. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” To thank Him FOR all things means His glory is more important than my temporal home and current life. It means we come to a place where we truly want His purposes more than our own.
My dear friend died of cancer. At the time I could not see a reason to thank God FOR that when she had children and an unsaved ex-spouse, etc.
Yet at her memorial service, her ex-spouse and children came forward, crying and telling our pastor they wanted to know who this Jesus was that had transformed their mommy and ex-wife into this person everybody was sharing about. Through her death, they found LIFE! Their eternal life was her prayer during the last 2 years of her life and it came to fruition through her suffering and death.
And I knew God was right when His Word says, IN all things and FOR all things! What an awesome God we serve!!!
Blessings to you in Christ Jesus!
I want to second what Julianne wrote. I too have learned to be thankful FOR all things. A few years ago I had some health problems. It took months to get an accurate diagnosis while I was in constant physical pain. Even after the diagnosis, the treatment options were varied and sometimes vague. It all lead me on a quest to find a cure for something that most doctors consider a life-long illness accompanied by life-long pain. I was only 28; I was determined that God must have a better way. In short, my struggle lead me to learn a much more natural, organic, and healthy way of living. Not only am I all better, but I have helped my family to stay healthier as well! I am truly thankful FOR the illness I had!
I am learning to trust God in my hard situations but I haven’t thought to thank him for these situations. I do thank God that he is using my situation for his glory.
Laurel,
Having Jesus is having it all…….
This is a wonderful post and I believe God truly wants us to give Him the thanks and glory for the events in our lives. Wonderful. Love you, me
Amen, blessed be the name of the Lord always.. Awesome post Laurel.
You have a special way of making spiritual truths so down to earth Laurel. In my darkest struggle – it wasn’t until I was able to praise and give thanks that the peace came. He is so faithful to keep His promises.
I’ve also learned to thank God for all my struggles. It took years for that to sink in but I’ll never look at life the same way again.
Great post, Laurel!
Thank you Laurel for this post. Sometimes it’s really hard to thank God in the struggle but I’ve found out that until I do I continue to struggle.