One of the most amazing verse of Scripture in my judgment is this quote, urging us to give thanks FOR all things. I can understand giving thanks IN all things, which gives me room to choose what to be thankful for in my situation. For instance, if I lost my wallet, I could say 'Thank you Lord that I only lost my wallet and not my life'. Then I'm giving thanks IN that situation. But to ask me to give thanks FOR that situation is to say, 'Thank you Lord that I lost my wallet'. Giving thanks for all things - the good, the bad and the ugly - just doesn't sound ok. But God knows what we don't and His judgment is for us to give thanks for all things.
There is a Chinesse proverb that says 'a stumble may prevent a fall'. Your present trouble may be no more than a stumble and you may never know what terrible fall it has come to prevent you from. That is why it is profitable to be thankful for everything, especially if you are in the will of God for your life. An attitude of gratitude can turn obstacles into stepping stones for miracles.
Thanksgiving is one of the most harmless and safest things you could do in this world. No matter the circumstance, thanksgiving is always the will of God. Whereas people have been rebuked for every imaginable act, I am yet to hear of anyone being reprimanded for giving thanks. You lose nothing by giving thanks but may lose everything by neglecting to give thanks.
If you just lost your job, thank God you lost that job - that won't stand in your way of getting it back or getting a better one in its stead. Neither does it mean that you have given up, accepted defeat and agreed with the devil. Thank God you lost the job and then proceed to rebuke the devil if you feel like it. Satan will always obey you better after he hears you acknowledging the goodness of God while going through an unpleasant situation. Satan is ever afraid of grateful saints because he knows he's lost the battle over the lives of such people.
If you just lost a loved one, go ahead and thank God. Withholding your gratitude certainly won't release the power of resurrection. So why not give the devil a blow and give thanks to God, even with your tears. Thanksgiving don't always have to go with smiles to be acceptable to God. You can be sure that the woman of Shunem was not smiling when she told Gehazi 'it is well', neither was Horatio Spafford when he wrote the song, 'It Is Well With My Soul'.
Thanksgiving is a way of acknowledging that God reigns in our situation. Gratitude is an endorsement of God's sovereignty over our lives. That is why the unthankful is not only ungrateful but also rebellious. That makes ingratitude a crime before the Almighty. You must not be caught dead with such a heinous crime. Be thankful!
Excess of everything, they say, is bad. But wanted is excessive, superfluous and profuse thanksgiving to the Lord, our God.
As for me, my song remains 'Thank You Jesus'.
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