GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES

Here is the final part of my 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 study. Sorry it took so long!

Verses:

Psalm 118:1 – Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Colossians 3:17 – And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Psalm 118:1 tells us that we should be thankful for God's steadfast love for us. If we pray for thankfulness, and dwell on how much God loves us, God gives us thankfulness. Colossians adds that we should be thankful in whatever we do. We take a lot of things for granted; most things we have, actually. If we stop and write down all the things we have and should be thankful for, it would help us be more thankful. We should also be thankful for things that may seem bad in our lives. Please read this section from "The Hiding Place" about this. (For those of you who haven't read it, the "I" is Corrie ten Boom.)

"We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!"

I stared at her, then around me at the dark, foul-aired room. "Such as?" I said.

"Such as being assigned here together."

I bit my lip. "Oh yes, Lord Jesus!"

"Such as what you're holding in your hands."

I looked down at the Bible. "Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all the women, here in this room, who will meet You in these pages."

"Yes," said Betsie. "Thank You for the very crowding here. Since we're packed so close, that many more will hear!" She looked at me expectantly. "Corrie!" She prodded.

"Oh, all right. Thank You for the jammed, crammed, stuffed, packed, suffocating crowds."

"Thank You," Betsie went on serenely, "for the fleas and for–"

The fleas! This was too much. "Betsie, there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea."

"'Give thanks in all circumstances,'" she quoted. "It doesn't say, 'in pleasant circumstances.' Fleas are part of this place where God has put us."

And so we stood between piers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong.

Later in the book, we see the good that came from the fleas.

One night I got back to the barracks late from a wood-gathering foray outside the walls. . . . Betsie was waiting for me, as always, so that we could wait through the food line together. Her eyes were twinkling.

"You're looking extraordinarily pleased with yourself," I told her.

"You know we've never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room," she said. "Well–I've found out."

That afternoon, she said, there'd been confusion in her knitting group about sock sizes and they'd asked the supervisor to come and settle it.

"But she wouldn't. She wouldn't step through the door and neither would the guards. And you know why?"

Betsie could not keep the triumph from her voice: "Because of the fleas! That's what she said, 'That place is crawling with fleas!'"

My mind rushed back to our first hour in this place. I remembered Betsie's bowed head, remembered her thanks to God for creatures I could see no use for.

This is an example of how God uses things that seem to be bad for our good. Isn't it so cool? :)

Something to remember when we don't feel thankful is that Jesus died for us so that we can go to heaven forever. If, with God's help, we can be thankful for something as big as that, we can remember to thank God for the little blessings (and trials, little or big) in our lives.

I hope reading this has left you encouraged!

Sarah :)