In Everything?

“Thank GOD in everything, no matter what the circumstances may be; be thankful and give thanks, for this is the will of God for you who are in Christ Jesus—the Revealer and Mediator of that will.”—1 Thessalonians 5:18, Amplified

On some days, the idea of being thankful to God in the midst of everything that happens in our lives—especially in our world today—sounds like the power of wishful thinking, or worse, wearing a plastic smiley-face and denying reality. But life in Jesus’ day was also filled with strange diseases, horrific executions, governments gone astray, and most of all, sheep without a shepherd.  The timeless good news is that we have a rock-solid foundation for authentic, thankful living—and it’s this:

“the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth…” (Acts 17:24)

Being purposely and regularly thankful to God for every answered prayer big and small—or even for simply never leaving or forsaking us while in the midst of a situation that has no obvious good solutions at the moment—sends things like selfishness, doubts, and grumpiness running in the Light of the most trustworthy declaration that’s ever been made in the history of mankind.

Living in thankfulness never sugar-coats what is painful or worrisome, or shuts off the newscast and wishes it all away. Rather it declares in our witness of words, attitudes, and demeanor:

When darkness seems to hide His face

I rest on His unchanging grace

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil

Christ alone, the Cornerstone!

"This hope, this confident assurance, we have as an anchor of the soul—it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it—is a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells..."—Hebrews 6:19, Amplified