1 Thessalonians 5:18
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (NLT)
I had heard this scripture many times, reminding me to be thankful in all circumstances. But until I saw God in action, transforming something bad into something good for Him, I couldn’t fathom that He actually meant “all” circumstances.
For example, surely He didn’t mean those circumstances where serious errors in adolescent judgment scarred my heart forever. Circumstances where my own sin brought on heartache. Circumstances where someone betrayed me, violated my trust, and hurt me deeply. Circumstances where fear, pain and suffering felt overwhelming.
Surely this scripture doesn’t mean be thankful for THOSE circumstances. Yet, it does.
Maybe you have questioned the reality of this verse as well. How can we be thankful for painful circumstances and memories? Why would be thankful for heartache? How could God possibly use difficult circumstances for not only good, but for His glory like we read about in Romans 8:28? I struggled with these questions for quite a long time, until I finally stopped arguing with God, and started believing this truth.
I spent far too many years living in shame or regret, assuming God probably didn’t love me, while being haunted each day by memories and regrets. Rather than learning to be thankful for all things, I had learned how to live in denial that God’s promises were meant for me. That He could use something really ugly in my life for a beautiful purpose, if I was willing to trust in His promises of forgiveness, grace, mercy, peace and purpose. I couldn’t understand how God could love me, despite me, much less have a special plan for my life.
But sweet friend, I have since learned that true thankfulness to God – even when we can’t understand why we should be thankful and can’t convince our heart to do so – truly does open spiritual eyes and mend our hearts in a way we would never anticipate.
Even when we cannot fathom anything to be thankful for with regard to a certain hardship or pain, God’s promise for purpose does not change. His promises are not affected by our inability to see things from His perspective.
God is patiently waiting for the day when we choose to trust that He has been planning our future, and has been equipping us for purpose, during our entire lives, through every circumstance – good and bad. Waiting for us to believe that our lives have meaning and we are destined for a unique purpose – not despite our past, but because of it.
The only hurdle to embracing God’s unconditional love and seeing and fulfilling divine purpose for our lives, is our own lack of faith, not God’s lack of love or planning. Before our eyes can really be opened to see God at work, we have to first learn to be thankful for what we have experienced in life, even when our common sense tell us just the opposite.
But let’s face it – a faith on fire for Christ that compels us to push past our biggest hurts and fears and trust God above all else is never going to be easy. If it were, everybody would do it. But when we practice true thankfulness like we are reminded to have in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, anything is possible in Christ – including an amazing life of purpose we would have never imagined.
You see, God knows how He wants to use our pain for His purposes, and we are all called to trust Him so that He can help us see why we really can be thankful for it.
God never allows or causes something to happen in our lives without having an incredible plan for holy purpose. A purpose that brings us joy and abundant life when we are willing to embrace it. A purpose that makes life worth living. A purpose that brings joy and peace. And for all that – we can most certainly be thankful.
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- – Two autographed copies of Your Life Still Counts
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Losing my husband, the love of my life, earlier this year only makes sense when I consider God’s purpose. I still don’t know what that is, maybe I never will, but I trust Him that He’ll use it to make me stronger and more usable for His purpose.
Trusting that He will turn my divorce into purpose. (praying for restoration so that all glory can be given to Him for healing the pain, hurt, and poor choices of our pasts.)
It’s hard to be thankful when God puts us in a hard season of parenting and self-growth.
Having health issues that cause constant pain makes it hard to stay positive but yet I find myself feeling closer to God . This is proving to be worth the pain . I am truly amazed and very thankful for this blessing in my life .
It is hard being in a season of singleness as I approach my 30, but I trust in God’s timing he will bring the right person into my life.
That money is really tight right now, and we are barely getting by..but I have faith it will get better.
My family is struggling now and it is hard to see why, just have to keep faith.
It’s hard when my RA flares up and I’m in pain.
Thanks for the contest.
I am going through a difficult situation now and am trying to praise God in it.
Ahh, so close to my heart right now as there are huge, unwanted changes happening in my family life. and then I run across this <3
I am having a difficult time in my life right now. Have been unemployed for a long time, have no car, and out finances are stretched to just making ends meet. I also suffer from depression and am adjusting to my only son starting his first year in college and. to knowing where the tuition will come from. I know The Lord will provide for all our needs, and I hate this feeling of being stuck in the wilderness. I praise The Lord and love to worship Him, but sometimes I feel like a hypocrite.
have normal struggles in my life that sometimes blind me to God’s purposes. I have friends that have been trough so much more than I and I see them struggle with finding a purpose in it all. I turn on the news this week and struggle to see God’s purpose in the hate and destruction that is occurring. When I first read about your book I really started to think about my circle of friends. Every single woman has a broken story to tell. Abuse, divorce, abortion, wayward children, unbelieving parents, cancer, children with serious health issues and the list can go on and on. This book sounds like such a wonderful salve to all of us. People who have come to the other side of the pain and with God’s help have won!! I would love to win this prize pack so that I can do this Bible study with my Wednesday night ladies group. Thank you for the great book!!!
It was hard to be thankful at the time my daughter broker her ankle in soccer this year. But focusing on God and praying throughout this trial gave me peace and also gave my daughter encouragement to see her mom being thankful to God that it was not worse, thanking God we got to hospital quickly and safely and thankful to God that the hospital staff was so gracious and willing to answer all of your questions and thankful to God that I had many good friends to call to start a prayer chain for my daughter and my family during this trial. It has been several weeks since this happened and I have seen God’s hands through all of it. Thank you Lord for trials and thank you for the amazing healing you have done with Hannah.
It’s hard to be thankful when someone you thought was a friend turns on you. Thank you so much for this devotional which reminded me that God will bring good from this. I am trusting Him!
Parenting can be tough especially on younger moms. My daughter has 3 children and has trouble disciplining them as they don’t respect her because they see that her husband doesn’t respect her. They treat her just like he treats her. I have told her but it’s like she doesn’t think so.
I’m thankful for God’s grace during the estrangement from my husband’s oldest son. During this time we’ve been able to reconcile the facts with feelings and stop blaming each other for our different parenting styles. We did the best we could with what we knew at the time.
My husband may be getting a job in another city and I am fearful of what that may do to our already rocky and struggling marriage. But I have FAITH that God has plans for us both; “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
I often struggled with the same question…how could God be glorified in THIS situation! But the older I get and the more situations I experience victory in; the more I AM seeing God glorified. Not because of anything I did, but all of who God is.
I lead a small women’s Bible study in my home and this would be perfect to start in the new year. All of my Jesus girlfriends have gone through pain and heartache. What better way to let them know God can use that for good. I thank God for your gift of writing.
My nephew Jimmy died suddenly at the age of 31. This is the second son my sister and brother-in-law have lost. I cannot feel that God can turn this heart breaking even into something good.
Past choices try to keep me in a pit, in the mud and the mire, but I know God forgives me for the ‘errors of my adolescent judgment’ and I am reconciled to Him. I also know that had I not reached the bottom in my choices, I wouldn’t have slowed down long enough to hear God, to hear and accept God into my life, to accept Jesus as my Personal Savior. I hate the fact that I had to stoop so low; it is a shameful, embarrasing truth I have to admit to, but without it, my salvation would be on the line. I wouldn’t have reached out to God and who knows where I would be now. I am so Thankful for God’s forgiveness. So Thankful that He allows us to move beyond our mistakes. So Thankful he is a God of second chances (or third.. or fourth…. or fifth). Yes, My Life Still Counts, and for that I am Thankful!
I am also a 5-yr cancer Survivor. I don’t know what purpose God still has for me here on this earth, but He brought me through the challenge and I know I still have a purpose and that He will help me to see it through. Yes… My Life Still Counts, and for that I am Thankful!
I’m trusting that God will use the pain of losing custody of my kids for his purpose, and am so thankful for the time I do have with them!
It is much easier to be thankful when you have a lot to be thankful for. Every time I think of the story of Job, I can’t imagine being faced with those sorts of difficulties and still praising God. I would hope that I would still praise Him, but if I was that low, I just don’t know where my thoughts would be.
I am trusting God to provide a job, a husband, and a sound mind.
Needed to read this today.
I am learning to be thankful for my story. I am thankful God has recently brought someone into my life that I can encourage as she walks thru processing her own pain of the last. But, I am still working on being thankful for the hurt in my past.
The Lord and I have walked through four miscarriages and then eventually a divorce after 30 years of marriage. These things were incredibly difficult, but He brought me through. I find the storms in life are not the point. The point is we are being brought through the storms to the other side. It is then that we can be used by the Lord to help others find Himl. Even in the storms, we can point the way to Christ. I praise Him and give Him all the glory.
thank you so much for your post and words today, its so soothing to me and I tend to keep myself in turmoil with the pain and regrets I have had over the past few years. I am working to grow in Christ and let him be the guide in my life and yes my own unbelief is sometimes my stumbling block. but I have faith that He is drawing me to him and will delivery me through all of this and I WILL know how he is using all of this, even the hurt, for GOOD according to HIS PURPOSE FOR ME.
Life isn’t easy…but when we are close to him it’s wonderful. Sometimes when we slip away into earthly things he has a great sense of humor at gently pulling us back closer to him.
It’s taken me a long time to get to a point that I can be thankful to God for all things. As I get older and have the benefit of hindsight, I see God’s hand every step of the way. Thank you for this great blog!
Timely message. So many difficult circumstances and so often feel like just getting my head above water again when something else sweeps me off my spiritual feet. Thank God that He is always holding me by my right hand and though I slip, I will not fall nor will I be utterly cast down.
It’s hard to be thankful when I see a child that has been or is being abused.
It is hard to be thankful when I had Polio as a child and they told me I have Post Polio and that it is coming back to my body but I know that my Savior will take care of me and ease the pain I have and take care of me, He is my only hope for this situation I am in and I am very Thankful to my God
A fairly recent automobile accident that has left me with limited ability to complete simple, daily tasks without pain…such as caring for my 3 kids, keeping up with wife and mom duties, or taking care of the house. It could have been so much worse, and I am thankful it wasn’t, but the limitations are frustrating and I am looking for what I am supposed to be learning through these circumstances.
Keep believing ladies, God is amazing. My back round includes molestation as a child, rape when 11 and again in my 20’s. Things I was sure I would never get over or forgive, much less to be able to be thankful they happened. However today in my 50’s I volunteer in a level 2 mens prison that is 75% sex offenders. I love these guys with a love only God could have given me. And my story makes a difference in their lives. Praise God for His plan for my life.
It’s hard to be thankful during hard times. But God has shown me that he does redeem marriages. After 12 years of being in a mentally abusive marriage, my husband met our Lord and even though we still have ways to go our marriage is si much better and we were blessed with a ” surprise” third child in my 40’s 🙂 I believe He has a purpose and plan for our pain. Blessings.
A circumstance coming up is when I’ll have to leave my 4 month daughter to leave for military training for a month…
Losing my grandma was very hard but I know I shall see her again.
Its hard to be thankful for my husband’s stressful job that is always in jeopardy lately, but I’ll leave it in God’s hands.
Some days it’s just so hard to remain thankful, but those are always the best times, the times you see the true unexpected blessings. Raising 4 very different children is one of the hardest yet most blessed experiences, the days when you can’t wait for them to turn 18 and then one turns and says you’re the best mommy ever when you swear you’re failing them miserably. But the creator of those 4 precious monsters will see me through!
Losing someone close to me.
It’s hard to see when you are in the middle of a crisis – loss of loved one, loss of job, bad relationship – but God turns all things for our good. Always. I always have to pull myself out of my own pit and trust in Him. He knows the big picture. Always.
God is so gracious to give me a future and hope despite how my past has been such a dismal failure in trusting God. I’m hanging on to believing God’s Word for my future and the verse to thank God for all circumstances is a verse that I am praying each day to make it a reality in my daily life.
It’s hard being patient while Chad looks for work.
In the past, it was hard to be thankful for financial issues, yet God has pulled my family and I through every time. 🙂
My father has dementia, and as I watch how cruel this disease is, I really struggle to understand it and to feel thankful in any way for it. My father wants to be free from pain and confusion, and I struggle to understand why he has to suffer so much.
It’s hard to be thankful when a family member is grouchy and ungrateful, but I will try…thanks for the reminder!
Trusting that he moved us here for a good reason and that he will bring out family all back together again when we are miles apart.
When someone I love won’t change am unhealthy habit, I have to trust God to keep His hand upon her and to work it or.
If we could just see ourselves as God sees us, we would never doubt that our lives count. How blessed are we that God sees us through Jesus’ eyes!
this would be an amazing gift for me to receive right now. After 35 years of marriage my husband told me, by text message, that he was filing for divorce. I suddenly find myself living with friends nearly 1000 miles from home. I can’t support myself, or live alone, because of severe arthritis and debilitating depression and anxiety! I am amazingly blessed to have the support and love that sustain me and those are easy to be thankful for! But … betrayal, abandonment, a divorce I don’t want, separation from friends and family, chronic physical pain, and an emotional state that leaves me barely able to cope with decisions like what to wear or what to eat … how do I be thankful for those?
I have been struggling with seems like an eternity with some very painful situations. I often get overwhelmed by them and doubt God’s plan for me. Thank you for this devotion and giveaway.
When is the winner going to be announced? There is no date on the blog and I have yet to see the announcement….
HE IS PLANNING A GREAT RETIREMENT FOR US
Hard to be thankful when one see’s so much suffering from wars.
I struggle with headaches yet I trust the Lord. Blessings Diana
My family has kind of a difficult situation going on right now. We know God is in control – and even though it’s tough for us right now – we know He will work it all for good!
This post and the book’s message so speak to the places in my heart and life that God has been trying to reach the entire six years I have been saved by Grace. Just this past month after reading one of the many posts about this book from you and others involved I asked my counselor (Christian based out of my home church) and the church’s office manager to come and pray over me and my writing. An assault in college left me abandoning my writing my senior year and refusing to pick it up again eleven years later even after God has nudged me and encouraged me to do so. The message of this book was the kick I needed and now I am writing again and all for God’s glory and better than I ever did in college!
My grown children and staying in faith.
vmkids3 at msn dot com