Thanksgiving and Victory

THANKSGIVING AND VICTORY

“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 

(1 Thessalonians 5:18)

            Have you ever heard a Christian say, “Thank God for everything?”  They work so hard to find some way to be thankful for the problems of life. In trying to be always thankful they ask, “What is God trying to teach?”

            When asked that question I say, “I cannot answer because I am not God.” A better question is, “What can I learn from each experience?” Every experience has many ways of responding, we can learn more than just one lesson. With this question we can mature more quickly.

            It is not for everything but in everything. In the loss of a loved one we can give thanks not for the loss but for God’s unfailing grace. In the darkest storms of life we may not be thankful for the experience but in the experience we can hold more tightly to the hand that is holding ours. In the coldness and emptiness of soul one can still be thankful that it will not last.

            Think of Adam’s first experience with night. God came to Adam to be with him through it. He must have wondered what was happening to the sun as it disappeared below the western horizon. How relieved he must have felt when it rose above the eastern horizon. He must have said, “I hope I never have to go through that again.”

            Or think of the first fall and winter as he watched earth die and return to life in the spring. Did he say, “Wow, I hope I never have to go through that again!” Did he learn that God could be trusted even when his senses failed? Did he learn to thank God for all of the trees from which he could eat or focus on the one tree that was forbidden?

When all things fail

And foes assail,

Give thanks!

When the night

Is bereft of light,

Give thanks!

Not for the pain

You feel again,

Give thanks

But for the God who

Will see you through

For That, Give Thanks!

Rev. George Van Sandt is a frequent contributor for Freedom Fighter and the Keswick devotional, Real Victory for Real Life

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Esther 6-10; Psalm 69:19-36; Proverbs 14

Compass Pointers: A good workman can accept the reward of his labor with assurance, but one who is idle and shiftless cannot look his employer in the face. That is why we must devote ourselves heart and soul to the task of well-doing, for everything comes from the hand of God and He has already warned us, "See the Lord is approaching, with his reward before him, to pay every man as his work deserves." Clement

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1:John 8:12; Level 2: John 8:42-47

Anchored to the Rock: I want to be begging mercy every hour. William Tiptaft