1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Many Christians have exaggerated or distorted this passage. They have prayed with thanksgiving after tragedy struck their lives thinking that God expected praise for even the bad things occurring around them. I don’t believe God wants us to give thanks for abused children, battered spouses, suicide bombings or broken marriages and disgraced leaders. Do you? God wants us to come to him in such cases and mourn the event and participants, seek God’s comfort and faithful trust his guidance through such tragedies.
In all circumstances in life we are to give thanks. This means that even in the face of tragic events, we can still praise God with a thankful heart – not for the event – but because God is able to bring healing, hope and goodness in spite of such expressions of evil. God is good. He neither created nor condones the evil actions that we see committed around us. His goodness transcends such events and is ever working for our welfare, despite man’s sinfulness.
Life is full of pits. Life does offer delectable fruit, too. Although we prefer the fruit over the pits in life, we can still maintain an attitude of gratitude in our hearts. As Christians there is always eternally more for us to be thankful. We do not measure our happiness and joy merely by the standards of the world or allow our thankfulness to be dictated by circumstances. Our hope is in Christ’s work for us on the cross. Forgiveness of sin is our determining factor in being thankful to the One who has given us more than the world could ever think of giving us.
God is present to help us each day, no matter what tomorrow holds. He alone is our one constant in life. He joyfully gives us strength and security. Thankfulness is easy because of Him.
