BE THANKFUL IN ALL THINGS

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
(Philippians 4:6)

MEDITATION:
We all have issues, but sometimes we complain when we shouldn’t.
Why? Because too often we overlook what we should be thankful for.

There was a pastor who was driving across the country with another man.
At the time, all of the pastor’s children were in private schools.
He began complaining to the man about the great cost of sending a son to college.
The man looked at the pastor and said,
“I’d give anything in the world if my son would go to college.”
The pastor thought, “Oh, what an ungrateful spirit I have!”

Do you ever complain about dirty dishes?
There are lots of folks in third world countries
who would like to have some dirty dishes.
According to God’s Word, we are to be thankful in all things.

When going through a tough time,
it doesn’t make a lot of sense to be thankful, does it?
However, when we thank him in all things, we are saying to the Lord
that we trust Him to be with us, to help us, to encourage us,
and to teach us what we need to learn from our experiences (good or bad).

Before the Lord called home a friend of mine,
he had an interesting perspective on thankfulness.
Whenever someone would say to him something like, “My left knee hurts”.
he would ask them, “Does your right knee hurt?”
When they said it did not, he would say, “Then think about your right knee”.

On the surface this may sound insensitive,
but he just wanted to remind them to be thankful for the good things,
rather than focusing on the bad ones.
He was a former marine and a little salty, but he had a heart for others.

ACTION:
Rejoice in God’s blessings for your life.
Avoid the temptation to complain and grumble about your life.
It doesn’t mean any traumatic situation is not real,
and it doesn’t mean that you don’t want/need relief, it just means that
you are putting your trust in the Lord to provide for your needs, and to
comfort, console, and encourage you in whatever trials you are experiencing

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who
love Him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for loving and taking care of me. Forgive
me for complaining about what I don’t have, rather than thanking You
for how You have blessed me. As a loving Father, I know that You want
what is best for me and I have confidence that I can learn and benefit
from anything and everything going on in my life. I am most thankful
that because of what Jesus did on the cross, I can call You my Father.”

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