2 Thessalonians 5:18
‘In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you’. (NKJV)
I’ve seen this scripture countless times, but I’m seeing it differently today. Don’t you just love how God’s word is never stagnant and boring.
Really, Lord, this is your will? I’m in the phase, where I’m asking the Lord a lot, what is your will for me? Why am I in this city at this time? So, this really resonated with me. I haven’t been quite thankful too.
Connie ten Boom’s story comes to mind here. She tells of how her sister Betsie was always able to find a reason to thank God, even while they were prisoners in the dreadful German concentration camps. God used Betsie to encourage the other prisoners and win lots of souls to Christ.
One encounter stands out in my memory. The sisters had been moved to a different prison, and assigned a flea infested and overcrowded room. Connie remembers it being so depressing, but Betsie immediately began to pray, finding reasons to thank God. She ended with thank you Lord even for the fleas. Much later, they learnt that because of the fleas, the guards avoided their room, giving them some freedom and enough time to share the gospel with their room mates. Praise God.
Are you ready to thank God for your fleas’? God’s will for us is to thank Him in every situation, hard as that may sound. This attitude of thanksgiving, I have found, takes our attention off the pressing needs of the moment, changes our perspective. Only then, can we begin to see and understand the hand of God working in our circumstances.
Make a conscious effort to be deliberately thankful in every situation! This is what God wants you to do in Christ Jesus.
Shalom