Some Bible commands are easier to obey than others. But I imagine all of us, at some time or another, struggle with Paul’s instruction in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV), “Give thanks in all circumstances.”
That translation is a little better than the traditional King James, “In everything give thanks,” but however we translate the original, Paul reminds us that it’s God’s will that we do so.
It helps to note that Paul does not say, “FOR everything, but IN everything,” or IN all circumstances, not FOR all circumstances. But it still seems like a tall order. How can we process this and get it right?
We clearly can’t obey this command if we are driven by self-will, and seek to micromanage everything and everyone. That mindset would keep us frustrated, unable to see anything for which to be thankful. After all, how often do our plans materialize as we drew them up?
But what if we truly believed that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”? (Romans 8″28) That would make a difference, wouldn’t it?
Breaking it down. . .
God always is at work
God always is at work for me.
God always is working for my good.
God always is working for my good in His purposes.
Our own labor and planning often meet with barriers and restrictions, but not so with God. No purpose of His can fail, nothing He chooses to do can be thwarted. So if He has decided to bless you, then you will be blessed, even when the blessing takes the form of illness, betrayal, unemployment, physical weakness, or COVID-19.
If there is no way to stop God’s blessing, then it is easy to say, “Thank you, Father, for placing me now in this place, for I know that you would not have me here unless it is for my eternal good and your eternal glory.”
And if that is too much of a stretch for your faith at this point, just imagine a God wise enough and powerful enough to create a world with so many variables and possibilities, and that every single aspect of it reflects His sovereign will.
Imagine a God so wise and powerful that the death of His Son, the greatest injustice imaginable, worked the greatest benefit of all, the forgiveness of our sins, including the forgiveness of those who crucified Him.
That’s where a life of thanksgiving can be rooted and bear fruit: believing that God is all that He says that He is, first and foremost, Love.
“Then Job replied to the Lord, ‘I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.'”
Job 42:1, 2