Giving Thanks Is Clearly His Divine Will!

Too often our gratitude is dependent upon the circumstances of life. A beautiful hymn was written by Martin Rinkart during the Thirty-Year War to help us look beyond our circumstances, and see the hand of God. Rinkart was a pastor in Saxony, Germany as the turbulent years of the war dragged on.

For a time, he was the only pastor in his town. His pastoral duties caused him to preside at nearly 4500 burials in 1637 alone. In the context of this sad situation, and these unfavorable circumstances, he penned the words to Now Thank We All Our God. It is a hymn of unconditional gratitude to God.

Now thank we all our God;
With Heart, hands, and voices;
Who wondrous things has done;
In whom his world rejoices.

You see, thankful people don’t have to have everything going their way to rejoice.

Did you know that most blessings are taken for granted? Hard to believe, right? But, it's true! If you're finding this startling, consider the following examples:

• If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ...you are more blessed than the six million who will not survive this week.
• If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ...you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
• If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death ...you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
• If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead, and a place to sleep ...you are richer than 75% of this world.
• If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace...you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

Christians need to learn how to count their blessings rather than listing their misfortunes! You can be sure that the Bible encourages and commands the people of God to give thanks to our blessed, and glorious Lord. 

There's something about a grateful heart that brings pleasure, and satisfaction to the heart of a holy, and righteous God. I know that's so, because it's clearly the will of God that His chosen people habitually give Him thanks for the blessings of life. 

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians at Thessalonica: “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Too many of us want to grumble, groan, and gripe instead of thanking God for what He has already given to them. Rendering thanks to God is not to be an occasional act of God’s people, but it is to be a way of life.

Someone might ask, "Why are we to give thanks to the Lord?" That's not an unusual question. Let me see if I can help give an honest answer.  "Because it pleases the Lord." In fact, the practice of giving thanks to the Lord is clearly His divine will. You can rest assured that God is pleased when we do what He desires us to do, in regard to any matter (Psalm 107:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:18).  

If we back up a bit, to Psalm 103, we find a list of God's blessings (Psalm 103:1–5). You will see that there are 5 blessings we can Praise God for:

• He forgives our sins.
• He heals us from our diseases.
• He redeems our life.
• He crowns us with love and compassion.
• He satisfies our desires with good things.

I think a closer look at these 5 blessings is in order. According to the Psalm 103, God forgives our sin and then forgets about them—“I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.” God heals our diseases. It may be a physical healing, but that may not be God’s first priority. God is more concerned about our spiritual healing and our emotional healing. God redeems our lives. Redeem means to "obtain by paying a price; to buy back." God has paid the price to redeem us.

God crowns us with love and compassion. He has given us true honor by adopting us into His family. What greater blessing than to be brought into the love and favor of God? “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” (John 1:12)

God satisfies our desires with good things. Have you tried listing the good things you have? God gave you those things for your pleasure. When we thank God, it is pleasing to Him!

Scripture: Psalm 116:12; 1 Chronicles 16:8; Colossians 2:7; Ephesians 1:11; Romans 10:4; Ecclesiastes 7:14

Prayer: Dear Father, thank you for this day. Please help me understand that loving someone not only gives hope, but it also helps one to strive for something better. Amen  

May God bless you, 

Yahvonne