Unconditional Thankfulness

November is traditionally the month of thankfulness. It is a time when we are to pause and count our blessings. There is even a November social media challenge that invites others to post one thing that they are thankful for every day of the month. And while there are some – like many Chicagoans this week who are reveling in their recent World Series victory – who find thankfulness this November to be extremely easy. Others are seriously struggling to muster up even one thing they can honestly be thankful for. And yet, serious Christians know, that Christ commands us to live a life of unconditional thankfulness.

 

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Unconditional Thankfulness

So just what is unconditional thankfulness? 1 Thessalonians 5:18 seems to provide the answer:  “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 

In everything… IN everything… In EVERY thing…  In every THING?

Yep. It doesn’t say give thanks when your team wins, or when you get a pass on a potentially serious diagnosis, it says in everything.

Does this mean we are to give thanks during this year’s presidential election – no matter who wins? And that we are to give thanks in the middle of a job layoffs, hurtful situations, and personal devastation?

Yep.

How is this possible?thanks-2

Practice.

Practice. Practice. And then more practice. The more we do it, the easier it becomes. There are several examples out there that validate this point, but my favorite is Corrie ten Boom.

Corrie ten Boom and her family were imprisoned in by the Nazis during WWII but her and her sister Bessie still found things to be thankful for. In one famous story, they thanked God for the fleas that had ravaged their barracks because it kept the guards away thus allowing them to share the word of God with the other prisoners. (Read full story here)

 

 

What about you? What are you struggling this month to be thankful for? In an act of faith, leave a comment thanking God for the most difficult thing you are dealing with right now. Then stand back and watch him make beauty out of your ashes. (Isaiah 61:3)

 

 

 

 

Debbie Simler-Goff

Debbie Simler-Goff is a Christian author, minister’s wife, and Grief Recovery Specialist® who works in hospice. She has contributed to three devotional books, and blogs regularly at www.dsimlergoff.com. When Debbie isn’t playing with her 11 grandchildren, she can usually be found scouting out the local ice cream shops.

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One comment

  1. I am thankful that God has given me this time to be alone because in this time is where I am learning to trust Him and know that He is there for me.

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