Give Thanks?

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."- I Thessalonians 5:16-18



Just a few days ago, I was felling pretty down about some circumstances in my life. My family has a practice where each of us have a journal where at night we write in that journal about some way that God has showed Himself faithful to us that day. Well, the night I was feeling pretty down I wrote in that journal about the ways the Lord had helped me that day. As I wrote, the Lord just seemed to put it right in front of my face how that I had many things to be thankful for and I needed to focus on those things not my circumstances.



Many times in life we get so discouraged about so many different things. However, we all seem to forget that God commands us to give thanks in everything not just when we feel like it (1 Thess. 5:16-18). You may think,"But I can't find anything to thank the Lord for." Well, are you saved? That's one major thing to thank the Lord for. He saved your soul from eternal hell separated from Him because of your sin. But God in His great mercy, when you repented( acknowledged was sorry for your sin ) and trusted in Jesus Christ, saved you from hell. If you look around and ask the Lord to open your eyes, you will see the many blessings God has given you. So don't get too down, just thank our good God in heaven for what He has done. Thankfulness is a choice not a feeling. We may not feel like being thankful but we are commanded to do it by God because it is one of the keys to having peace (Phil. 4:6-7). I'm telling this to myself as much as anyone else. Almost evrything I write about is something that God has spoke to me about and that I need to work on too. We all are human and have our weaknesses, but the Lord Jesus is with us holding us up and giving us strength to live this Christian life (Ps. 37:23-24, Heb. 13:20-21).