Friday, July 21, 2017

Giving Thanks In All Things


In everything give thanks; 
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you .
~I Thessalonians 5:18~

I have known this passage of scripture for many years .And for years I completely misunderstood what God was trying to say through the Apostle Paul .

And it's all because of that little 2 letter word "in." Two simple letters can change  everything 

.Notice that it says that we are to be thankful "in"everything . Not "for"everything .To be 

thankful"for"everything would just be weird.But to be thankful"in"everything is vastly different 

.Let me give you just one example from my own life . 

In 2002 , my husband had a mild stroke while undergoing triple bypass surgery . Now , to be 

thankful"for"the stroke would just be strange at the very least . Had I been thankful that he'd had 

stroke would have been completely odd !I am sure I would have ended up in a book on abnormal 

psychology somewhere !But I was thankful "in"it because he was surrounded by medical 

professionals who were able to do what they needed to do immediately to prevent it from 

becoming a major stroke ! 

What this passage of scripture says to me is that it's all about our heart attitude  when we face 

trying times in life .


Can we find the bright spot in the midst of all the darkness that hard times seem to surround us 

with ? Can we find the good midst the bad ? Can we trust God's heart of love for us and be 

thankful for it amidst devastating loss ?  Are we able to give thanks "in"whatever place we find ourselves ? 

I have found that this does not happen instantly . For me , it's been a long process learned through 

many losses in life . I had to learn to be thankful in the midst of life's storms and losses or I could 

have easily become a loss in the lives of the people God has placed in my life . May God bless you 

as you read this and may He grant you the strength and grace to find the good in whatever tries 

your soul at this time .

~Sharon~








4 comments:

Unknown said...

Very interesting interpretation how clever of you to spot that "in"!

You've been away for a bit I notice. Glad you're back.

Lidy@FrenchGardenHouse said...

Sharon, this is such a beautiful scripture, and one that I have turned to again and again. It is the blessing of those of us who are believers to find a snippet of joy and God's great love for us in each and every aspect of our lives, even in the more difficult parts.

Sharon Goemaere said...

David Ford,
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment ! :) I have been away but I'm back now and hoping to return to writing with more regularity . And I am nothing if not observant when it comes to "words." :)One small word can make a difference . I must come by your blogs again real soon .~Sharon

Sharon Goemaere said...

Lidy@FrenchGardenHouse,
So happy to see you ! I too have turned to it again and again . Such a lovely way to live , I think . It is definitely one of His gifts to us as believers .Thank you for stopping by Lidy . ~Sharon