August 19, 2020

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. First Thessalonians 5:18

Is the glass of water half full or half empty? I don’t know how you would answer that, but I do know that God would want you to be thankful for the water. God wants us to be thankful in all circumstances, but being thankful doesn’t always come easy. When Jesus healed 10 lepers, how many of them came back and thanked Jesus? Just one, one in ten! And if you read the book of Exodus, despite all of the miracles and freedom from slavery, the people were constantly complaining and even telling Moses they wanted to go back. Before you say we would never be as ungrateful as the people were back then, just remember that America is the world’s richest and most powerful country. Yet, If you watch the news, thankful would not be the first word people would use to describe America today.

We can always find something to complain about or to be thankful for, we just need to decide which things we will focus on. Matthew Henry is most famous for writing a bible commentary 300 years ago. One day in London he was robbed. Obviously, that is a bad thing, but that night Matthew Henry wrote these words in his diary: “Let me be thankful. First, because I was never robbed before. Second, because although they took my wallet, they did not take my life. Third, because although they took my all, it was not much. Fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”

Now that is impressive, and if Matthew Henry could find four things to be thankful for after getting robbed, surely we can find four things to be thankful for today. Count your blessings today, I bet you can think of at least four!

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost
Count your many blessings, name them one by one
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done

Count your blessings, name them one by one
Count your blessings, see what God hath done
Count your blessings, name them one by one
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done

Matthew Greven