Give Thanks in Everything

It is easy to be happy and cheerful in times of prosperity, when one has all or some the comforts of an easy lifestyle. Everything seems to be going well. However the testing times come when these material comforts are somehow taken away, and one feels defeated and all alone. We have experienced this in South Texas with a major drought. With the lack of rain it seemed as if everyone’s spirits were drying up along with the grass.

It is a comfort to realize that whatever else may fail, God will never leave us, nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Since we still have the Lord (assuming we have trusted Him for forgiveness and salvation, through Christ), we can always "rejoice in the Lord, . . .“

Job, for example, lost all his possessions, then his children, finally his health, and even his wife turned against him. Yet he could say: "the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).

Paul has encouraged each of us to give thanks in everything. (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Not for everything, but in everything! This has always been one of the greatest testimonies a Christian can give to an unbeliever--the testimony of a life rejoicing in God's salvation even in the midst of tough times. This was the example of Christ Himself to us as He endured the pain of execution at the hands of those who did not understand and because of our sins. And He endured this pain “for the joy that was set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2).

Our joy in tough times will largely be determined by our stake that we place in this life with its possessions. If our attention is focused on today then we will fear the current tough times; the drought, the economy, the current conditions of morality. However, if our focus is on our God given call and the belief that all of this like grass will someday just burn away and our hope is in a God given future then we will find the strength to go beyond today and give thanks.

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herds in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:17-18)