Thankful

Hold on Christmas!  I mean, I love ya and everything, but let's not skip Thanksgiving.

I absolutely love Thanksgiving.  It is one of my favorite holidays.  There are no presents to search for.  There's lots of food.  And the theme is being thankful.  How perfect!


Three times, just this morning, I came across this verse in Thessalonians...

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  1 Thes. 5:16

Did you know that giving thanks in all circumstances is actually God's will for you?  That no matter what is going on, there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for?  Yes, I am thankful for the usual stuff:  family, food, clothes, a comfy house, my cup of strong coffee with heavy whipping cream.  : )  But I am also learning to be thankful for the other stuff.  I am thankful for all the times that God has closed doors in my face.  I mean slammed doors.  He cares enough about me to not let me have my own way all the time.  He says "no" more than He says "yes."  At least sometimes it feels that way.  But then when He decides to open a door for me, I am so thankful.  From there I can see why He closed all those other doors and it's easy.  The trouble with giving thanks in ALL circumstances is that some things are just plain rotten.  Do you ever feel like God is helping everyone else, but ignoring you?  Or punishing you?  That's where faith comes in.

The only way that we can give thanks in all circumstances is to believe that God is in charge of them all, the good, the bad and the ugly.  That He is kind enough to not always let us have our own way.  That He sometimes says "no" because He knows best and is planning on saying "yes" to something else down the road.  It's easy to be thankful for good things, but what if the closed door is actually a good thing.  It takes some serious faith to believe that.

So go ahead and be thankful for all of your blessings, but don't be afraid to list the bad things, too.  Say them out loud.  I am thankful that God closes doors.  I am thankful that He doesn't always give me what I want.  I am thankful that He is in charge and loves us enough to make us mad sometimes.

If this is a rough Thanksgiving season for you, maybe try just a whisper.  Giving thanks to God is a choice.  It is different than feeling thankful.  Look around and see all the good and give thanks, and then recognize the bad, and give thanks for that, too.  By choosing to give thanks, you are acknowledging that God knows best.  That He is Lord.  Now that is something to be thankful for!

Give thanks in all circumstances and you might just see your circumstances start to change, too.
I hope so.

Giving thanks,
jen