Thankfulness is a Choice

 “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

I used to wonder about 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “How am I to be thankful for the headaches and heartaches of life?” Then I realized this verse doesn’t say “For everything give thanks…” but it says “in everything give thanks…” I love that! I am to thank God in everything, not for everything. Like Pollyanna’s Glad Game, the easiest way I’ve found to give thanks in everything is by looking for something I can be thankful for regardless of how my day is going.

The Life-Changing Power of God's Word

Charles Spurgeon declared, "I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters."

Though even a quick rinse in God’s Word will not return void, God gives us several motivating reasons to abide in His Word.

Why It's Always Best to Wait on the Lord?

I still remember the morning I woke up at 1:30am with a raging migraine. When I am facing a trial, be it a migraine or something else, I just want deliverance. Anything that potentially could delay that deliverance is something I want to avoid. As a result, at times the idea of waiting on the Lord feels contrary to my desire for deliverance because when I’m suffering, discouraged, frustrated, or hurt I just want it to all go away. The last thing I want to do is wait.

Though Satan would love for me to believe waiting on the Lord will cause me to be stuck in my situation longer than if I just took it upon myself to solve my problem on my own, I know these kind of thoughts only drive me to get ahead of God, take matters into my own hands, and inevitably create problems for myself that I otherwise would have never experienced had I simply rested in the promises of God and waited on the Him. God has proven Himself faithful to me time and again, each time confirming that waiting on Him will always be worth the wait, no matter how long I have to wait.

Faith: It's a Game Changer!

In pastor Chuck Smith’s book, Faith, he shares that his dad’s faith “was always bigger than his circumstances. On his dad’s desk was a framed two-word motto, “All things” Whenever disappointments came along, his dad would look at those two words and he’d remember the rest of the verse, and the promise God gave within it:

  

All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. “ (Roman’s 8:28) 

 

Pastor Chuck declares, “Faith means believing in God ‘s sovereignty. It means trusting He is on the throne, in command of all things, and working through every circumstance that comes our way. When we have that kind of faith, we have peace in the midst of trials. But when we forget God’s sovereignty, troubling circumstances cause us to despair. We survey the landscape with our eyes instead of with our faith.

How Fear Robs Us of God's Best

When Joshua and the other spies returned from spying the Promised Land God was giving them, Joshua and Caleb returned to the Israelite community with an encouraging, yet realistic report. (Numbers 13:26-30) The land was as wonderful as promised, but, it was currently inhabited.

However, the account from other eight spies to the Israelites was a discouraging and frightening report (Numbers 13:31-33), emphasizing that the inhabitants were much stronger and bigger than they were.