Lesson 5: Created for a Purpose (3)
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 - https://www.bible.com/bible/59/1th.5

The next "will of God" is thankfulness. We find this in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which says we are to "…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." We might think this is impossible in many circumstances in our lives. We think we could never give God thanks when our child dies, when our doctor says "cancer" and life will become hard, when our job is taken from us by unjust means, when our friend turns on us and accuses us of something we didn't do, when there is not enough food to feed the family, and even in the face of flagrant injustice due to rank or wealth. We are to "give thanks in all circumstances."

We might want to argue this is giving thanks IN the circumstances, and we don't necessarily have to give thanks FOR those circumstances. But we are quickly corrected in this idea when we look at Ephesians 5:20. The commands are for both, IN and FOR all circumstances. I do not believe in coincidences. But having to thank God for those "coincidences" is where my faith in God is tested for reality. Some time ago a member of my extended family died. As the family gathered for the funeral, a rare type of accident took the life of another member of the family on the eve of this funeral. Within four days of each other, a brother and a sister-in-law were buried. Can we give thanks in the midst of such shock and grief? We can, if we have faith in Christ, and if the people who are close to us are people we know we will see again one day in Heaven. But even if we do not know this, can we still give thanks? God never said the life He asks us to live would be easy. If it was, we wouldn't need Him.


Why is being thankful so important? Look at Romans 1:21 – the first two steps leading to the path of godlessness are failure to give God the glory for what He has done, and failure to thank Him. Giving thanks for what He has given us is one of the basic steps of suppressing our pride. Someone who is truly thankful to another cannot demonstrate pride.

Thanking God for something we cannot understand is one of our greatest demonstrations to God of our faith in Him. It is us telling God, “I do not understand what You are doing or asking; this does not make sense; I cannot see Your love through this – but You have promised to make all things good in my life; You have promised to love me always; You have promised to never leave me. So therefore I will trust You in this too, and give You thanks for what You will teach me through this difficulty.”

*What is happening in your life right now for which you find it difficult to thank God? Ask Him to teach you to thank Him even in this thing.