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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Thanksgiving (04/18/05)
Keeping Perspective

Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
(1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Have you ever wondered if God really meant we were to give thanks in everything, as in the entire, no matter what happens to you kind of all? Maybe it was a misinterpretation of the original text and what it was really supposed to say was give thanks in every experience that blesses and encourages you and fills you with joy and happiness. How does He expect us to honestly thank Him when we are in the midst of turmoil or grave difficulty? How do you thank Him when your husband is participating in a pro-life rally to save the unborn and you are miscarrying your own 16 week old unborn at the same time and having to go through it alone because you are unable to reach him? Or what about when you lose your business due to financial crises and then gain it back again only to be robbed more times than this paper has room to describe? Finally, how is it possible to retain a heart of thanksgiving when you arrive on the scene of a serious car accident and it is your daughter and her friends being pulled from the car and transported to the nearest hospital?

These are just a few of the possible scenarios that we as humans find ourselves in each and every day. Does God really expect us to thank Him in such times as these? The Bible seems to indicate that He does. How then can we live continually in an attitude of thanksgiving no matter what is going on in our lives? Truthfully there in nothing that we can do apart from Him, but with Jesus living in us we can learn to be thankful in all things by keeping perspective. God has promised His children that He has in mind to give them an abundant life. Many of us may be tempted to think Jesus was only talking about eternal life. This is simply not the case. To experience the abundant life includes walking in the fullness of all that you were created to be. Everything that we go through on this earth is leading to the accomplishing of this goal for our lives. As the precious children of God, He has promised us that everything, including the good, the bad and the ugly, will result for our good. Our Lord will not ever subject us to something that would fail to be used for our ultimate good. We can then give thanks knowing that our suffering is never in vain, but it is working out the highest of God’s purposes for us.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Carol Dee Meeks
04/25/05
and when we overcome, we'll be purified like fine gold.....this was a wonderful write. I enjoyed it very much.
donna robinson
04/28/05
You touched honestly on the heady question of what to be thankful for and I think in my heart I have felt that it wasn't that God meant us to be thankful for heartache, but rather to be thankful we didn't have to through it alone. That He would take it away in a flash if he hadn't designed the world free choice. So He must sit in heaven and anguish with us. I mean if your child is hurting don't you hurt with them even knowing you can't change anything for them? I thought this was written with a simple message that gave the reader a chance to ponder their own mortality and ability to see the Son at all times..
Phyllis Inniss 
04/29/05
Most of us have gone through this period of doubt when disaster strikes and we suffer afflictions, but we come to the realization that God wants us to turn these burdens over to Him, so that He can show us how to survive them. Thanks for sharing.