I know that you want to be someone who says YES to God. It's the motivating factor of your life, isn't it? Yet, there may be an aspect of saying YES to God that you hadn't quite contemplated yet.
Don't stop reading now! I promise you, this will be worth it! Part of being a person who says YES is to cultivate grateful. I know! That's tough, right? It's easy to evaluate our circumstances sometimes and excuse ourselves from gratefulness. I mean, look how tough everything is! Maybe it's your finances or your relationships. Maybe it's your own health or the health of someone you love. Maybe your job is wearing you out. Maybe you feel like you have been giving your all for God and getting nothing back. "If God is supposed to work out all things for good in my life (Romans 8:28), then why do so many things seem to be bad?" you may be saying.
I don't want to minimize anything that you are going through. It's tough, and that's the truth. However, I want to park on a verse from the Bible that may help you get some perspective on what you are going through and help you get to a new level of YES. Are your ready? Are you willing?
Here we go: "In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (I Thessalonians 5:18 NASB)
IN everything. Let's start there. It's important to note that little word, IN. It doesn't say FOR everything. There are some things it would just make no sense to thank God for. But IN. Now that's different! I can thank God IN my financial difficulty. I can thank God IN my health crisis. I can thank God IN my relational trauma. I can thank God IN the midst of just about anything.
Why? Because God's goodness and character don't change even when my circumstances do. He remains the same. He remains faithful. He remains loving. He remains powerful. He remains God.
In EVERYTHING. Everything? Really?! What about....? You fill in the blank. Yes, even that. Saying YES to God means thanking Him in the midst of that unnameable, unexplainable, unimaginable, unpardonable, unwanted circumstance. Not FOR, but IN EVERYTHING.
I don't know why God allowed that situation to come into your life. I can't explain it. I can't defend it. But I can remind you, Dear One, that the Father who allowed it sees the end from the beginning. He knows how it is going to turn out and He is with you in the midst of it and working for your best interest. He really is. Why?
Because, at the end of the day, the thing that matters most, the thing you and I most need to remember about God, is that He is a God of love. He IS love. (1 John 4:8) Whatever He does, whatever He allows, whatever He doesn't do, is motivated by His love. That is something we can be grateful for. IN EVERYTHING.
Key thought: Cultivate grateful.
A Scripture to Consider:
In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:18 NASB
A YES challenge: Is there any circumstance you have found yourself grumbling about? How can you cultivate grateful today?
Prayer:
Lord, You know what I am going through. I don't like it and I wish it wasn't happening, but it is. Help me to remember Your unfailing, never-ending, overflowing love even IN this. I choose to give You thanks today. Amen.