In Everything Give Thanks

I apologize for being negligent in my blog this past week.  Today I wanted to share something that we talked about last night in our Thanksgiving Eve service since today is Thanksgiving.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”.  Can God really expect us to “give thanks for everything”?  Can we really be expected to give thanks for cancer?  Can we be expected to give thanks for unemployment or death?  The answer to these questions is “yes” but I think there is a proper way to understand the idea of “giving thanks” which makes giving thanks for the hard things in life not only possible but life changing.

There are often two different prepositions that we use when we talk about giving thanks.  The one used most often is giving thanks “for” something.  We give thanks for our family, our church, our friends, our country, etc…Most of the time the things we give thanks “for” are good things.  It seems almost disingenuous to give thanks for cancer doesn’t it?  I think so.  However, if we change the preposition to “to”; it changes the focus.  I can give thanks “to” God for sickness or death or unemployment because I know that God loves me and cares for me and can use even the bad things for good in my life.  I know that God can make all things work for good in my life.  So I can give thanks “to” God in everything, even the things that I struggle seeing how to be thankful “for”.

I challenge you to not dismiss 1 Thessalonians 5:18.  Rather, I challenge you to give thanks to God for everything.  I believe this can radically change your life!