Everything...



Do you give thanks in everything? It seems like a foreign thought. How can we give thanks when illness, death and hardships take place in our lives? 

Many years ago I was in a Bible study and we had just studied Ephesians 5:19-20 “Sing and make music in your hear to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In this verse it is not a suggestion, but a command that we give thanks no matter what is going on around us. Not when things are going right, not when you feel like it, not when you are happy, healthy and wealthy, but in everything. It doesn’t say we have to like the situation or be happy going through it, but it does suggest that there is always something to be thankful for in the situation.

After studying the verse, I had an opportunity to put it into practice. My husband and I were on a trip with another couple. The men were out hunting for wildlife, but the girls were also hunting for something much more important…pine cones, not just any pine cones, the huge variety.

We had taken off in my husband’s new car down an old country road, scouring every direction on our mission. Suddenly my friend yelled, “Pull over, there are some over that fence.” So being the obedient type, I pulled the car over, not realizing that the road didn’t really have a shoulder, but a sharp drop off. As I pulled the car over, the new car got stuck on the ledge. 

Now this was in the days before we readily had cell phones and we were way out in the middle of nowhere, so I thought, well I’m not sure what there is to be thankful for in this situation, but I’m going to be obedient to what the Bible says and so I quietly said, “Lord I’m not sure what I have to be thankful for, but I thank you for this situation.”  

I had no sooner finished my prayer and looked up to see a truck driving down the deserted road. He pulled over and “just happened” to have a chain with him and was able to pull us out to safety without any harm to the car. 

I’ve wondered over the years what would have happened if instead of thanking God in that situation I had fussed and cussed over the situation. It might have turned out exactly the same, but that incident taught me a valuable lesson that has stuck with me over the years. No matter what the situation, it is always possible to thank God.

  • If in a long line at grocery store you can be thankful you have money to buy groceries.
  • If being flipped off by an unhappy driver, be thankful that you are not having a bad day like the person in the other car.
  • When your child dumps his food on the floor be thankful you have a child when there are many who would like to have one and can’t.
  • You think of the situation and the reason to be thankful. Be sure to share them with me. I can’t wait to see how you can be thankful in any situation.


You can be thankful in any situation.

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:19-20

www.hearthope.org

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