Monday was a busy day for me. My mom was having surgery. It was an outpatient surgery, therefore I waited on her in the waiting room. As I sat there I thought about a scripture that came before me over and over again that morning.
The scripture is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, and in the Amplified Bible says; “Thank [God] in everything no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks, for this is the will of God for you who are in Christ Jesus, the Revealer and Mediator of that will.”
As the day continued on and we left the surgery center, we made a couple stops. At one of the stops I looked over at a shelf to find a picture with 1 Thessalonians 5:18 on it. I picked it up and looked at it for several minutes, meditating on that scripture. I knew God was planting this scripture deep in my heart that day and I would soon know why.
We often talk about being thankful and having a thankful heart, but I wonder if we realize the importance of the remainder of that verse. The scripture says ‘no matter what is going on in your life, be thankful and give thanks, FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD FOR YOU.
Are you doing His will today? If you find yourself in difficult circumstances, do you have a thankful heart? Are you continuing to give thanks to the One who can bring you out of it? Are you being thankful? Friend, this IS the will of God for you.
I took a moment to look up the word ‘will’ in this scripture. The meaning was interesting to me and gave me a new revelation for this particular scripture. It means, what one determines or wishes to be done. It also means a command. And finally, it means, the purpose of God to bless man-kind.
Are you walking in the blessings of God? If not, do you have a thankful heart? Are you being thankful in the midst of challenge? Or are you simply complaining and murmuring all the way? If you are complaining all the way, allow this word to convict you and ask God to change your heart. It makes a difference. As you see from this scripture, a heart of thanksgiving is connected to the blessing. It is most important to be thankful when it is the most difficult thing to do. Are you, through your heart of thanksgiving, keeping yourself connected to the blessing God desires to pour out on you?
I meditated on this scripture the reminder of the day. And I thank God that I did. For you see, after I drove my Mom back home, Breanne came to her house to help her with her medication and give me a ride home. In the midst of that, Bryson went to get something out of Breanne’s truck and inadvertently locked her keys in the truck, along with her phone. She was not happy. He was upset, as was she and she was going to have to wait on Brandon to drive over an hour to come and unlock it. Breanne had a list of errands that had to be completed and she was stressing out because it was already the end of the day.
However, God had already sowed this word deep in my heart that day. Therefore I said ‘Breanne, come on, we will take Mom’s truck and get my jeep and get all your errands done and by then Brandon will be here.’ Off we went, she wanted to be upset, but I continued to speak peace and by the time she got my jeep to drive back to my Moms, she was over it and at peace too.
On my drive back, God said to me ‘in all things give thanks to me, Kim, this is my will for you and this will allow me to continue to bless you in every situation.’ My heart was overwhelmed with His goodness. I began to thank Him for everything that came to my mind and heart. All the way back, I gave thanks.
I spent that day of my life being thankful. Even though it was a difficult day from sunrise to sunset. Even though I was having to deal with things that were stressful and hard. Even though I had to watch someone I love go through something I would rather her not go through. Even though…through it all, I gave thanks. And do you know what? God blessed us, just as He said He would. He is a good God and His will is to bless us. His will is also for us to give thanks in all circumstances…it connects us to His blessing…are you connected today? I know I am and I intend to remain connected. Amen.
