Give Thanks

November 23, 2020

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (KJV)

16 "Rejoice evermore.

17 "Pray without ceasing.

18 "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Other translations of these verses say it this way, “Give thanks in every circumstance." It looks like an impossible request for God to ask of us whether faced with times of great disappointments, tremendous losses, or unbearable heartaches, we are supposed to give thanks. How do we even understand the thought that we are supposed to be grateful during these types of difficulties and changes?

I have learned a valuable lesson over the years in understanding that we are not giving thanks to God for what we are facing like He sent it to us to teach us a lesson, but we are giving thanks that even in times of difficulty God is faithful to us and will deliver us from the hands of our adversary.

Testimony: I have shared with all of you before about how my daughter, Jennifer, had a death sentence spoken over her when she was eighteen months old. She was in the hospital, and the swelling in her legs was moving toward her lungs. They said that she would suffocate from it and there was nothing they could do about it.

The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So, I opened my Bible to the Book of James and read the whole book over her in the hospital room. I prayed that God, in Jesus' name, would heal my daughter. The Bible said that believers shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover. I am a believer, so I laid my hands on her, and we walked out of the hospital rejoicing all the way home. She is now almost forty years old! Praise God!

Father, I thank You for showing us not to be thankful for the difficulties, but to be thankful that in those moments we can praise You in spite of them. My disappointments were removed and You filled my heart with hope, peace and joy! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Blessings on the journey, and remember that the best is yet to come.