Give Thanks

1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

There are in every Christian's life things that we wish were not there; in fact I feel sorry for the Christian who has nothing in his or her life that they wish were not there. If we are to agree with God about what is happening to us and about what God permits to be in our lives at this time then we can truly believe in the aforementioned scriptures. We read these scriptures and begin immediately to explain away what God is trying to teach us. Is it true that we can truly give thanks for everything? Is it true that we can give thanks in everything? Is it true that God uses every negative thing in our lives to form us and to prepare us to walk with Christ who suffered all for us? Or can we explain away these scriptures and say that is not really what God means? I believe that the answer is only too obvious; God means what he says.

In times of revival praying and preparation, our spirits become very sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit. Things that would not ordinarily trouble us bring us great distress of mind and heart. Little things that we would overlook normally now trouble us until we find a place where we can confess to God or be right with someone whom we have offended or go to someone who has offended us. It is times like this when we must look carefully at the scriptures and seek God's guidance very earnestly if we would be in God's will and enjoy his blessing. Even physical trials seem more severe and taxing and are used by God to bring us to seek him with all of our heart.

In the Gospel of John chapter six and verse 60, the disciples reacted to Jesus' teaching with this retort: 'This is an hard saying, who can know it?' This is often our reaction to other teachings in the word of God and especially the two verses mentioned at the beginning of this article. The commands to forgive, to love, to pray without ceasing, to be filled with the Spirit, to rejoice evermore, to abstain from all appearance of evil, In everything give thanks, and giving thanks always for all things and others have us saying within ourselves, 'How can I do that?' This scripture must mean something else, or it doesn't apply to my situation, or I think that is a wrong interpretation.

If anyone had a reason to complain and doubt God's dealings with him it was the apostle Paul. 2Co 11:23-30 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. Now of course it seems almost unnecessary to mention, but God certainly does not expect us to give thanks for sin. However we can thank God that when we sin we do not get away with it, but become subjects of God's chastening hand as a loving Father.

Does God really mean 'Giving thanks always for all things?' Paul believed that he did; he said, 'If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.' Can you and I thank God for and in situations that come upon us which we did not create or cause? Hear it again, 'In everything give thanks, for this is the WILL OF GOD in Christ Jesus concerning you.' James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. In the Old Testament, when Jehoshaphat and the children of Israel were facing the Kohathites in a hopeless situation, they were told to do something completely unreasonable; 2Ch 20:20-22 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. It was not until they began to praise God that God was able to change a seemingly impossible situation to victory. Remember, 'In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.' If God is our Father and the scriptures are true, then we must believe that God will always be doing for us exactly what is best for us. Isaiah 41:10-16 is still true: Fear thou not for I am with thee; be not dismayed for I AM THY GOD. No matter what we go through, God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us and we can truly thank God in everything and for all things because he is God and our Father. Psalm 27:1-3, Numbers 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. Nothing you and I face is too hard for God; nothing we face is beyond the scope of his grace.

There is a scripture in Psalms 68:17 that says The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. Now according to this scripture, God has multitudinous ways to carry us into the will of God in Christ Jesus. A chariot is a means of transportation to get someone from one place to another. God says to us, that pain, that heartache, that trial, that difficult friend, that cantankerous boss, that situation that you did not create that is a grief to you: All of these can be a chariot that you can climb into and rise higher. God wants to teach us something by everything that we wish was not in our life. What is it that you wish were not there? What is it that you have asked God time after time to take away, even as the apostle Paul did when he said in 2Co 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. Remember, Psalm 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Can that be said of us? is God with us because we are praising him? Climb into that chariot and let God take you higher. Say to Him, 'Lord I receive this from your hand and I thank you that your grace is sufficient for me. I know that Jesus Christ is now supplying all my need because his grace is sufficient for me now.' Thank God!