…giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Ephesians 5:20, 21
Before stumbling upon this verse…
And I say “stumbling”…
Because I sure as heck did NOT want to find THIS one (!).
I thought throughout my life,
“Sure, I can try really hard, and might manage to give thanks to God
IN most situations.
Okay, in SOME situations!!
I’m a work in progress over here, okay?😊
But FOR everything????????
You know, when a preacher tries to tell us about thankfulness….
I have NEVER. NEVER. EVER heard them say anything other than a paraphrase of the following statement…
“The bible doesn’t tell us to give thanks FOR the trials,
but to give thanks IN the trials.”
Has anyone ever heard anything other than this??? Because, I listen to a lot of pastors speak, and I have NEVER heard this.
Not even once!
So, I’ve really been studying…
Looking for loopholes.😊
Trust me.
There’s nothing that motivates us to study the Word more than trying to find a reason NOT to follow something we’re told to do in scripture, especially when it sounds next to impossible!
But the fact that it feels “next to impossible” to give thanks FOR everything is sort of what tips me off that this IS what God wants us to do.
Think about it.
The bible tells us that if we love those who love us, that’s NOT a monumental feat! It says, basically, “ANYBODY can do THAT”.(Matthew 5:46) He says love those who HATE you, instead.
That’s not so easy.
The “next to impossible” stuff is what He’s all about!!
In the moment it was happening, it felt next to impossible to ever thank God
FOR losing a baby…
FOR having a tumor…
FOR having a stroke…
FOR all the sucky things that have ever happened to me.
But THAT’S this life, isn’t it??
What better proof could there be that God is REAL than to thank God FOR all the things that break us?
I see all the good that has come from the pains in my past, and I am now thankful for all of those things.
I can be thankful for those things, in part, because of the gift of
Hindsight.
Perspective.
And those two things are not that special, and they are available to
ANYONE.
Not just to those who love God and profess to having a relationship with Him.
ANYBODY can get perspective.
That’s not the real miracle.
That’s not a miracle at all!
The REAL miracle is being thankful for the hurts of
“RIGHT NOW“.
Guys, I gotta tell you.
I don’t like this brand new information.
But I am asking God this morning to keep doing these impossible things in me.
To give me a thankful heart each and every day…
FOR ALL OF IT.