Thoughts on Giving Thanks

Why do we give thanks?
It's so easy for us to rejoice and thank the Lord for the "good" things that He has blessed us with.
Family, friends, children, a home,
these are all wonderful things to thank the Lord for.
But, what about the not so good things?
The battles with sin, the trials, the sad and hard situations that our Lord sovereignly chooses to lead us through in His perfect timing.

Do we thank Him for those things?

The command is clear in Phillipians 4 "rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice"(Phil4:4).
"But!" we reason in our minds "How can I thank God and rejoice in that!? "let your gentle spirit (sweet reasonableness/contentment) be known to all men. The Lord is near." (v.5) "ok, so I am to be content, and God is near, thats comforting. But, how can I just sit back and watch this happen!?"
"Be anxious for nothing!" (v.6a)
Nothing? There's absolutely nothing that its ok to worry about, or fret over, or be consumed by? Nope, nothing. But, I worry and fret and complain so easily, how can I practice that command?
"In Everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God." (v. 6b)
That command is pretty clear, we are to take everything to the throne of God, everything thing! All the good, all the bad, all the blessings, all the trials. And with a heart of thanksgiving, pour them out at the feet of our great and sovereign God!
Can we ask Him to change a difficult situtation? Yes!
Paul did,
three times He begged God to remove a "thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor. 12:7-10) but his reponse when God chose not to is what we should emulate.
"therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties..."(v10a).
Would you say that Paul was thankful? I would! There is no way a content heart can be unthankful. Right after that he says
"...for Christs sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong"
Paul was saying that it was in His weakest times that he was most filled with the strength of Christ, rather than his own and he preferred it that way.

God never looses control of any situtation, all things are held in His perfect hands, all things are for a purpose; our good, and ultimately His GLORY. And because of that we can, and should be "well content", we can and should give thanks in everything!

I hope and pray that your thanksgiving is full of many wonderful blessings, but I also hope that your heart is ready to give the Lord thanks with a heart striving to be content even in the things that the natural man would never be thankful for.

Have a wonderful day of giving thanks!