Another Post About Thankfulness

No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

This verse is very hard to live out. Of course it is easy to be thankful when things are good; although sadly I don't always remember to be thankful when things are good. On the other hand, when something tragic happens that causes us to to question if God cares, it is much harder to praise him in those circumstances.

I don't think any one taught me that it was God's job to make me happy, but if I am honest with myself, I definitely believed this. God has blessed me in countless ways, but it seems that so often I focus on the one thing that I lack.

I was reading last night in this Bible study by Max Lucado a story that illustrated the point that God is worthy of our praise no matter the circumstance. Max told the story about how his daughter almost drowned, but a neighbor saved her as she struggled in the water. He wrote that as he was thanking God that night he felt as if God was telling him "Would I not be just as worthy of your praise had I taken her home today?" Ouch. That is true, but so amazingly hard to embrace that sort of attitude when life's tragedies hit.