- Life can be very trying. When your child is
hungry, your body wracked with pain, or you have no idea where you and
your family will find a place to sleep, it's hard to find something for
which you can be thankful. So, for just a few minutes on Thanksgiving Day,
step outside your situation and just "be". Find something, no
matter how small, to be thankful for because in giving thanks, you will be
lightening your load, even if for only a moment,
- Thanksgiving thoughts are the kind of thoughts
that we should have all year long. It is the folks with thankful hearts
whose lives are filled with song. We should take time for kindness to
those we hold most dear, and just extend a helping hand to others through
the year. Let's set aside some quiet time and share it with a friend. For
friendships brings a special joy and pleasure without end. So may the
blessings of this day that I would ask for you, now fill you with
Thanksgiving Peace that lasts the whole year through!
Giving Thanks When You Can’t
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good (note – but only if certain conditions are met) to them who love God (note – the first condition), to them who are the
called according to His purpose” (note – this means it’s “His Purpose,
and not ours,” which is the second condition; otherwise, all things will not
work together for our good).
With the understanding of conditions laid
out in the above verse, look at the startling command of 1 Thessalonians
5:18 which bewilders even committed believers at times: “In everything give thanks; for this is
God’s Will for you in Christ Jesus.”
How do we give thanks
in times of catastrophe? For what are we grateful when disaster strikes?
As foreign as it may seem, we give thanks
to God in all things because His sovereign, loving power is able to weave our
grief, sorrow, and pain into the fabric of His eternal plan for our lives. God
does not cause evil, and neither is He conquered by it. You may ask HOW?
Because of what Jesus did on the cross for mankind.
Listen:
God’s purposes for us cannot be thwarted by our problems. For that, we can give
thanks in the midst of our adversity. In 2 Cor.
12: 9-10 And He said unto me, My Grace is sufficient
for you (speaks of enabling Grace, which is really the
Goodness of God carried out by the Holy Spirit): for My Strength is
made perfect in weakness. (All Believers are weak,
but the Lord tends to make us weaker, with the intention being that we then
depend solely upon Him, thereby, obtaining His Strength.) Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities
(because of the end result), that the Power of Christ may rest upon me. (If Paul needed so humbling and painful an experience of
what the carnal nature is, it is evident that all Christians need it. Whatever
weakens, belittles, and humiliates that proud and willful nature should be
regarded by the Believer as most worthwhile.) 10 Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong (then the strength of Christ can be exhibited through me,
but only when I know I am weak).
Someone once wrote – “The sovereignty of
God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling.
The circumstances surrounding our lives are not accident: they may be the work
of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our sovereign
God.”
All evil is subject to Him, and evil
cannot touch His children unless He permits it. God is the Lord of human
history and of the personal history of every member of His redeemed family. The
question is “Do you know Him’? You can! Take a look at the beginning of our blog
for details then pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart and forgive your
sins. HE WILL! Amen.
Some of you may presently be experiencing
some difficulties in your life - This devotion is worth a look. With God at the
helm you will find The Anchor Holds - Despite the Storm. Be Blessed!
