Thankful

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thes. 5:16-18)

Through life's little ups and downs, God is teaching me how to "give thanks in all circumstances."

For instance, after we hit the deer, the auto body shop told us it would only take 4 days for them to fix the car. Well, those 4 short days have dragged into 2 weeks and counting! How have we managed 2 weeks without a car in a place that has no public transportation? (Our insurance policy doesn't cover rental cars.)

After talking to the shop for the 5th time in a week and still having no car back, I was furious. Man, I couldn't even go to the store to buy groceries like a regular person! Yet, God brought up the 1 Thes. verse in my mind. What else could I do but repent of my brash attitude and instead say, "Lord, thank you that the car is not fixed yet. And thank you for generous friends who can give us rides. Thank you for your provision in all areas of life."

When, recently, our finances has been a lot tighter, I have learned to turn from a constant worrier to content child, and say, "Thank you, Lord, for what You provide. Thank you that we lack nothing."

I have realized that situations like these are blessings — through them, we have learned to trust in God and His provision, to count our blessings and be truly thankful for what He gives us, and not to take what we have for granted.

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." (Romans 1:21-22).

When they stopped giving thanks, their hearts were darkened and they turned to idolatry. They refused to acknowledge the sovereign Creator God, the origin of life and the giver of all good things. Instead of being thankful to their Creator, who gave them life, provided for them and sustained them, they turned worshipped lifeless idols and images of created things. Yet idols and false gods do not deliver; they only disappoint.

On this Thanksgiving, let us be truly thankful to the One who deserves all thanks and praise.