Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope your day has been full of family, friends, love, and laughter! Maybe you’ve travelled or cooked all day or have been preparing for this meal for a week. You’re probably tired or in a food coma (no judgment here.) No matter where you’re at or what you’re doing, we all spend today reflecting on thankfulness.
We gather today to give thanks for all the things in our lives we are grateful for, right? Seems simple enough. I’m thankful for my friends, my family, Jesus, and our military. And the great state of Texas. Done...But, wait?
1 Thessalonians 5:18 reads, “ In every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” In every thing. Let’s discuss that for a second. In every thing. EVERY THING. As in not just the happy-glowy things, but the dark and twisty how-can-i-get-through-this things. That’s certainly not a simple thing to do. When things don’t go how we plan or we don’t get the job or we fail the test, how are we supposed to be thankful for that?
Here’s how: God is so much bigger than any test or job or circumstance we can imagine. There’s a reason it didn’t all work out like we had hoped and planned. We may not know why now, but someday we will. God’s will is so much greater than we can ever imagine. So when I think about being thankful, yes, I am so thankful for all the good things. But I’m also thankful for the bad ones, too. I’m thankful for the bad days. Because at the end of the day, God’s got this. His will is so much better. I wouldn’t be sitting here typing this out and sharing it with the world if I had not gone through it all.
So I’m going to give thanks in every thing, and I pray you will, too.
As always, be the light, spread the joy, and glorify the Lord.
XOXO
Team SFB