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Give Thanks

 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  (I Thessalonians 5:18)

          Yes, we’re just a few days from Thanksgiving, so I’m finally going to turn to that topic, and when someone else posted a meme with this verse, I knew it was the verse for the day. As I looked at it, however, my reaction is “Yikes!” We sometimes have people say, “I don’t know what God’s will is for my life.” According to this passage, God’s will for your life and mine is for us to give thanks in all circumstances. All circumstances. All. In

Lost jobs               Damaged economies       Pandemics            Lockdowns

Masks                  Riots                              Looting                 Racial unrest

Verbal assaults      Corrupt elections            Power-grabs          Obesity

Not knowing what God’s will is                   Not liking what God’s will is

Weak muscles       Deaths of loved ones       Birth defects          Failing memories

Mental illness       Cruelty                           Gentleness            Insecurity

Anxiety                Poverty                          Wealth                  Failure

Injury                   Health                            Sickness               Marriage

Singleness            Lack of knowhow           Burden                 Responsibilities

Rights                   Hope                              Sorrow                 Huricanes

Tropical Storms    Wildfires                        Snow                    Cold

Heat                     Boredom                        Overwhelmedness Sleeplessness

Tiredness              Muscle aches                  Heartaches            Bad jobs

Feel free to add your own…

          If we are not giving thanks, we are not doing God’s will. And, looking at the verse a little more closely, it doesn’t say, “Giving thanks to God in all circumstances.” I’m not suggesting that we should seek pain, but be thankful in it, even to those who cause it. The verse also doesn’t say we should be thankful for all circumstances, but in all circumstances.

          So here’s a good exercise for each of us. Pick two of the worst, hardest thing in the list above (or hard things that aren’t on the list that are specific to you. Pick one positive thing. Spend a few minutes thanking God in those hard things, and for the good things, too. Or, if the bad things are too hard, ask Him to show you the good in them.

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