All Circumstances

The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank. -G.K. Chesterton

Thankfulness so often is contingent upon comparison isn’t it? The old lyric rings true…”you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” We know we ought to be thankful for the simple things: eyes that see, ears that hear, lungs that breathe, clothes on our backs, food and shelter and such, but our Facebook and Instagram feeds call to us and shepherd our minds away from contentment for the basic things to wishing we had more. We know intellectually that someone, somewhere in the world, is praying for the things we take for granted and yet we lament our situations. Maybe you’re not like that.

Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” He must not really mean all circumstances though right? Paul never had to deal with an international pandemic. Then again, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:25 that, “three times [he] was beaten with rods. Once [he] was stoned. Three times [he] was shipwrecked; a night and a day [he] was adrift at sea.”

Has your life ever felt like Paul’s? You recover from one shipwreck only to be faced with two more! I don’t think it’s always easy to be thankful in everything; it may actually be quite difficult.

In spite of all the struggles in our world today, during this Thanksgiving season, we can and we must be thankful for all He has already done in our lives.

-Chad