As my devotion on Thanksgiving morning I googled around to find various verses that dealt with giving thanks to God. Depending on the translation, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to give thanks in everything, in every circumstance and in all situations. Right away I took some comfort in thinking how thoughtful God was to remind me to be thankful on the good days as well as on the bad days. This is one of the verses I had memorized as a cub and had carried around for years as a "go to" verse when things got more than messy. I had heard... and repeated...that I was to be thankful in every situation, even when the circumstances were nothing to be thankful for. More than once I have pointed out that subtlety to folks who were suffering after being hurt or had a load of whatever dumped on them.
Then Mr. Google moved me on to the next thanks giving verse which stated something a little different. In Ephesians 5:20 I read where we are to give thanks for all things! OK, I knew that verse... but for some reason I had never put these two verses together! Wow! How could that happen? Without realizing it, I had attached to the first verse a "lesson" that was never intended by the Author! I was unintentionally giving myself, and others, permission to be thanking God while hating my circumstances. But the second verse says to thank God for those very circumstances!
Needless to say, I was challenged to dig deeper and spend some time fleshing out the context of each verse in order to land back in my comfort zone. Talking the Word over with the Word is always recommended, so I did that as well. And the Holy Spirit lives for these encounters. It was a great time with the Lord and I love it when he draws me to Himself so intimately when searching out truths of scripture. This blog would wind up being an essay if I took the space to share it all, so just let me cut to the chase:
God is omnieverything. God is completely and forever sovereign. God is not spending His time figuring out how to get me out of the predicaments that I may be in. Nothing comes into my life without first going through God. We know that the evil one needed God's permission to afflict Job. David reminds us that what some mean for bad, God means for good. The bitter and the sweet are proportioned perfectly for fashioning His children into the likeness of Christ. If Romans 8:28 is true, and it surely is, then I can rest in knowing that he's managing every little detail... How else could all things work for my good and his glory if I am his very concept, his child, his beloved? Yes, I can thank God in all things as well as thank Him for all things.
