IN EVERYTHING? YEP, EVERYTHING.

Circumstances this year kept me from being free to enjoy the company of family and friends sitting around a table blessed with the bounty from God's goodness.  Sometimes I forget to be as thankful as I should be, because, obviously, these blessings didn't come from me,.  Sometimes, many of us (including me), overindulge to a point of gluttony.  At that point, our prayers should not be so much, "Thanks for the bounty", but, rather, "Forgive me, Lord, for my sinfulness."

While the Thanksgiving holiday is a favorite for most of us, maybe we would be closer to God's will if we made Thanksgiving a lifestyle instead.  Paul tells us, in I Thessalonians 5:18, "In every thing give thanks:  for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (KJV)  Giving thanks, according to Paul, is not just a nice thing to do (like a thank you note), its the will of God.  But, in everything?

What about when I lose my job?  What about in unexpected sickness?  How can one be thankful when the car breaks down?  The list of potential problems goes on and on.  So, surely, Paul didn't mean "in everything."  Yeah, he did.  When the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this passage of scripture, a part of His inspiration was that is was God's will in Christ Jesus concerning you to give thanks in everything.

Andrae Crouch penned it beautifully.

     "I thank Him for the mountains,
      And I thank Him for the valleys.
      I thank Him for the storms
      He brought me through.
      For if I never had a problem
      I wouldn't know that He could solve them.
      I wouldn't know what faith in God could do."

I urge you to read Romans 8:28-39.  It shows how God works for our good in all things.  It ends by letting us know that nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

In everything give thanks?  Yep, everything.