Sunday, November 23, 2008

In Everything Give Thanks

This morning in church our pastor preached on 1 Thessalonians 5:18..."In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Just to read this without thinking about it, you would assume that Paul says to give thanks for everything. But look a little closer. It doesn't say "for" everything. It says "in" everything. If we give thanks for everything, we are giving thanks for sin, too. We don't want to do that! To give thanks "in" everything means to give thanks for God in ALL circumstances.

Sometimes we go through trials, and circumstances are not what we would like for them to be. But, God puts us through these trials to help us to grow and become more like Him. It is in these trials, that we learn to trust in Him. We grow. So, we should be thankful that God is dealing with us in this way. He is preparing us for His kingdom. He didn't say it would be easy. It is easy to give thanks during the good times. It is much harder when things aren't going good. I don't always do this. My family has gone through some pretty tough times. I have even questioned God as to why he was putting us though a particular situation. The last thing I wanted to do was to thank Him for it! But, this is the will of God. We won't always know why He allows bad things to happen to us. But, we'll know His purpose when we get to Heaven. Our eyes will be opened, and it will all make perfect sense. So, just know that God is in control.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." As I was researching for this blog post, I came across this amazing video of Nick Vujicic. After watching this, I realized that if this guy can give God thanks and praise, how much more should I do the same?! I hope this touches you and blesses your heart the same way that it did mine. And remember...IN everything, give thanks. HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

6 comments:

Ali said...

That video is SO moving - thank you so much for sharing.

Lisa Spence said...

This I needed to hear! Thanks for sharing it! Have a wonderful, thanks-full Thanksgiving!!!

P.S. Love the groovy look!

Sandra said...

Thanks for commenting! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Anonymous said...

This is a stunning post. Happy Thanksgiving!

Not sure if you read Bring The Rain or not, but Angie's post today very closely echos yours...
http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/11/redeemed.html

Blessings, Whitney

Sandra said...

Whitney, Thanks for leading me to Angie's post. It touched my heart that God can use strangers to say the same thing so that it will have an impact on others.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Did I ever need this today. Thank you for sharing it.