I am by no means a Bible scholar. But I find some wonderful wisdom in Paul’s books in the New Testament. The apostle Paul wrote a large portion of the New Testament with thirteen chapters to his credit. The first nine books attributed to Paul were letters written to various churches throughout Greece and Asia Minor (Galatians, Thessalonians, Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians). The other four books were personal letters to church leaders (Titus and Timothy) and a Christian convert (Philemon).
I love the New Testament books where Paul is writing letters to the churches throughout the region. These letters are filled with so much wisdom that we can learn from in our everyday and spiritual lives and share that wisdom with our children. In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he tells us to be grateful in all circumstances because this is God’s will for us.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 - Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Wow, that can be hard. But it’s important to note, God is not telling us to be thankful FOR all circumstances, but to be thankful IN all circumstances. God uses the bad things in your life to create good, even if you can't see it. You can be grateful in everything for several reasons:
- God has a plan for your life.
- He can use everything in your life for good.
- The pain is not going to last forever
I can tell you from experience that God has used some incredibly painful things in my life for good. During a brutally painful divorce, an exit from an abusive marriage, God used that situation to draw me closer to him, closer to my family and to become an active member of a church community where I am now able to use my pain and experiences to walk that road with others. My faith is so much deeper and it guides me through every day. For all of THAT, I am thankful.
I am able to see those blessings now. However, I didn’t know those outcomes while I was walking that very scary and lonely road. That being said, I intuitively knew that gratitude was my lifeline during this time (thank you Oprah). I was purposeful in looking for things to be thankful for each day. As I said before, that wasn’t always easy. Some days were brutal. I had to constantly remind myself to focus on the blessings, there are always blessings. Here are some that I have focused on.
- A delicious cup of coffee
- Pretty scenery on my drive or walk
- A job that helped me pay my bills and gave me a purpose
- A friend to listen or just sit beside me
- A pet, in my case a loving, gentle golden retriever
- A delicious glass of wine, either shared with a friend or savored by myself at the end of a long day
- Beautiful flowers (usually spotted on a walk with my dog), what a gift from God
- Snow, sun, or even a rainy day with the slowness it can bring
- a bubble bath or watching a new episode (or 8) of my favorite new binge worthy show
- My church where I could worship or serve and feel part of a community
- God’s word that I could listen to with powerful music. Most often in the form of worship music or a church message. I was not yet in a stage of reading God’ word.
You know what I have learned through some of those harrowing days? Being grateful is one of the best things I can do for myself. It completely keeps me going. If I focus on anything I can find to be grateful for, I’m not focusing on the difficult circumstances that I am in. Let’s teach our kids this as well.
How can we teach our kids to be thankful in all circumstances? One way is to help them look for the blessings. If they are struggling with a bully or a mean classmate, they can be thankful for adults that love them and can help them, they can be thankful for other kids that are nice to them or include them in, sit with them at lunch or walk home with them. Finally, they can be thankful for Jesus, because in good times or hard times, they always have Jesus, that cannot be taken away.
What will you be grateful for today?