1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. ” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV)
This is the season of giving thanks. Thanks for family, food, friends. But, what about this admonition from Scripture to give thanks in EVERY thing. This is a little more difficult. So many things happen in our lives that do not seem good. But read this again: THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD! Ok, so tell me how, ‘cause I missed the memo on how to accomplish this. Did you?
The last three years I have been in the Lord’s crucible (The Crucible by Freda – October 15, 2015) to learn this concept amid some tough places in my life. Really, hard places. What I am slowly discovering is that it is a CHOICE I CHOOSE to make every day: to give thanks IN the hard places of life does not come naturally. In fact, in this fallen world in which I live, what comes naturally is ingratitude.
Ingratitude: Lucifer’s downfall and the reason he had a name change. Lucifer means morning star. Satan means accuser. Lucifer, leader of worship before God’s throne, falls because he decided he wanted to be worshipped. Highest archangel in glory thrown to earth and determined to take not only one-third of the angels with him but all mankind straight into hell.
Enter Jesus. “Heaven’s darling crucified” for the sins of the world. Two-thirds of the angels watched horrified as he was scourged, beaten, spit on, stripped totally naked for all to see His Jewishness (circumcision), nailed to a tree He created, and took his last dust-breathed breath. Creation did not breathe for three days while Jesus battled Satan for the keys of hell and death and exhaled relief when He walked out of the grave in total victory holding up our prison cells’ keys. To quote Chuck Swindoll, “God’s Amen to Christ’s ‘It is finished!’”
Jesus gave thanks for the cross for the joy set before Him…………knowing that you and I could accept His sacrifice and join Him in heaven. This is what it means to give thanks IN all things. He wasn’t thanking the Father for suffering and dying. Remember, He even asked, “Father is there any other way?” He was thanking Him for the opportunity to save my soul, your soul, the soul of all mankind.
I must ask myself if I, too, am willing to suffer, that another might find salvation? Am I willing to trust God with the difficulties in my life for the good of another? This band of treaders has done lots of embroidery, crewel, needlepoint, and smocking. The underside is always a hot mess – knots, threads hanging, loops. No picture or beauty seen. The top side is quite different. The pearls, beads, bullion roses are in perfect place. The picture stunning. The colors, whether bright, rich, or subdued, are captivating. Each stitch delicate, smooth, perfectly placed and the tension equal across the garment or canvas. Our lives, it has been said, are like this tapestry. We live on the bottom. Confused. Twisted. Chaotic. Knotted.
Our Father is viewing from the topside. HIS plan is perfectly coming together. Each thread (person) is being placed in the exact position it needs to be and the end result is a masterpiece of design, artistic ability, and beauty. (The Crucible by Freda October 15, 2015 – Life is but a Weaving by Corrie ten Boom)
Thank Him for His attention to detail in your life. Not one stitch will be misplaced, dropped, or pulled too tightly. This is why we can in confidence give thanks IN ALL THINGS. Eucharisteo!
Breathing thanks,
Yvonne
