18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Many people believe that God is saying that we have to be thankful for all of our circumstances, or even that we have to be happy about all of our circumstances, but is that what Paul is saying? Does God really want us to be thankful for all of our circumstances? No, of course not.
God doesn’t expect us to be thankful for all of our circumstances. He expects us to be thankful IN all of our circumstances. There are things in this world that we can’t control, loved ones dying, losing our job, finding out a loved one, or we have cancer. When His plan for us is for our good and not for evil, God doesn’t want us to be thankful for cancer. He wants us to be thankful THROUGH cancer. In spite of cancer. So that we can fight through cancer.
God doesn’t give us hardships, but He allows us to go through them. He allows us to suffer for a short time, but He always gives us the strength to make it through to the other side. The Joy of the LORD is our strength. That doesn’t mean that we’re happy about our situation, but instead that we’re gonna put our trust in the LORD because He loves us. When we trust in Him, we can make it through anything.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Give Thanks In All Circumstances.