Give Thanks in All Circumstances

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “Give Thanks In All Circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”

In the midst of trouble it is difficult to find things to be truly thankful for. In May 2011, we sold our house after having listed it for over three and a-half years. In September 2007, while pregnant with our first child, we decided to sell our home in an attempt to ‘down size’ so we could have a more manageable house payment when the baby arrived. Three weeks after listing our house, the market began to fall. Every time we lowered the price of our home, the market would fall further. Our house was listed for far less than we owed on it and as we approached the 3 year mark, pregnant with our second child, the market began to level. We thought we’d finally be able to sell. Then our neighbors began walking away from their homes! In March 2011 we had two children, a house payment we couldn’t afford and we had maxed out our credit cards over the previous three and a-half years in an attempt to stay afloat.

I prayed and prayed for relief over the years, but I was beginning to lose faith that God cared enough to help in this circumstance. I kept thinking of all of the other suffering that has gone on in much less fortunate areas of the world, knowing that my suffering was nothing compared to other (probably better) Christian parents losing their children to disease or starvation. I began to think that I didn’t deserve God’s help. But, we were desperate, we were failing, and the only reason we hadn’t lost our house was because my parents were paying our mortgage for us. We owed them over $10,000!

Then I heard something on the radio that changed my thinking: Give thanks in all circumstances, find the good things and be TRULY thankful! The only thing I could be truly thankful for was that my parents were in the position, financially, to pay our mortgage for us. I had plenty of other things to be thankful for, but that was the only thing I could find it in my heart to be TRULY thankful for. I began to focus my prayers on being thankful for my parent’s ability to help us rather than asking for relief. Every time I’d begin to cry and despair I’d try and stop to remind myself to be thankful that God had given me parents who were not only willing, but also able to help me! It took two more months to sell our house and this new way of thinking and praying really helped me through the struggle through the unknown territory I was navigating. Although I still cried and often despaired, thankfulness for that one thing was the buoy I could cling to through the storm.

Today, I found these notes on 1 Thessalonians 5:18 which I had written down and placed in my bible long ago. “Rejoice! Despair is a common human struggle. Rejoicing OUT LOUD is much more effective than internal when we are the most depressed or discouraged. One of the signs of being Spirit Filled is THANKS! Don’t forget to say Thank You!”

It is often very difficult to find even one thing we can be thankful for during times of grief or struggle. But, it is important to find something to be truly grateful for and meditate on it! Being thankful gives us hope and hope is something that we require to survive.