It's the will of God that you give thanks in every situation. There are countless times where most of us Christians have failed to do this. Sometimes It appears that we are not happy with what we are going through and that in one way or the other rob us of the joy we are given in Christ and eventually creates no desire to give God thanks
But today we will see from the bible, that amongst the will of God for our lives is thanksgiving. I was a bit surprised when I first saw this in the bible. That one of the very things that God has classified as part of his will for us is thanksgiving. Previously I knew that God wants us to be thankful in every circumstance we find ourselves but now it seems a bit more serious than that. It's the will of God just like salvation and sanctification.
It's unfortunate that most of us are unaware of this one. But glory be to God he has not hidden it from us. It's clear in the bible what God expects it from all of us. Going into today's studies, let's open our bibles to
1 Thessalonians 5:18. It's said in black and white that we should "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." Thankfulness is a product of the second will of God we discussed , being filled with the holy ghost. So as a prerequisite for a life full of thanksgiving to the Lord, we must be filled with the holy ghost.
It's said in the book of Ephesians 5:18-20 "Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Therefore we are to give thanks to God for everything. Whether good or bad. For we know .."that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."Romans 8:28
If we truly love him and have surrendered our lives to him, then we should be rest assured that he will not fail us. Whatever be the situation we are in right now is precursor to our ultimate joy in him. And it's from this fountain of joy that we give praise and thanksgiving to God.
God is looking for people who can trust him even in perilous times. Those are the people whose thanksgiving are from the heart. Sometimes we forget the manifold blessings we have in christ and this zips our lip and prevents us from thanking him.
Reflect on the spiritual blessings. He said in Ephesians 1:3 "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ." From this verse , we can conclude that thanksgiving should be always. Whenever we approach the throne of grace, let us go with a heart full of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in prayer should not be a formality and not always as a protocol. But should be heartfelt and real.
Sometimes whenever I feel like I have nothing to thank him for, I just reflect on my salvation, holy ghost infilling, sanctification and victory in persecutions and I realise that they are enough to bring me to my knees. Let's not concentrate on the physical. One can be starving and sulk be praising God. Because praise is not always connected to the temporal but the permanent.
