1st Thessalonians 5:18 “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
I was listening to a sermon on hypocrisy and this was the key point. We are told to give thanks in all things, and we preach this message to those who will listen. But do we actually DO it? Are we living our lives so that in ALL THINGS we give God thanks? Or do we only thank Him part of the time for some of the things?
As I was listening, I started mildly testing my own heart to see if I was a hypocrite anywhere. Do I “act” (which is what the word hypocrisy means) differently around people than I do in my own heart? And so I was running through things and I came to the idea of money. And I thought, “well, I don’t struggle with the love of money.” And then I thought, “why, don’t I struggle with the love of money?” And it occurred to me, I’ve never really had money. The temptation has not been there. I’ve been relatively poor my whole life, and my whole working life I’ve given large portions of my paychecks to the government. So, for the most part, I’ve always been paycheck to paycheck.
This led me to think, what if I DIDN’T have child support? What if I DID have large amounts of money? Would I fall into the trap of loving money? Would I fall into that sin? And then it occurred to me to THANK GOD for my child support! To THANK HIM for slowly acclimating me to having money, because He knows my heart. He knows that I may have slid into sin if I was earning large paychecks every week. I could thank God for my child support and taxes! He is guarding my heart from sin!
And so then I started thinking that this is the KEY to all praise in hardships. We need to look beyond the problem and ask God WHY the problem is allowed and WHAT He is trying to accomplish. That is why in James 1 it says that we are to count it all joy when we fall into various trials, and then he ends that thought by saying, “LET HIM WHO IS WITHOUT WISDOM, ASK!” I never really put it together in my mind before, I don’t think. Why James would be talking about joy in hardships, and then all of a sudden bring up wisdom. What does wisdom have to do with joy in struggles??? THIS IS THE ANSWER!
God is always working for our good (Rom. 8:28). And with that knowledge of His sovereign hand and His good purposes, we can trust that EVERYTHING that comes into our lives is beneficial (For the born again...The promises don't apply to the unsaved). If we can’t see HOW it’s beneficial, we simply need to ASK for the wisdom. To see God’s plan behind the pain. To see His sovereign sway over the sorrow. He is working something good in ALL THINGS that happen to us and so IF WE WILL ASK FOR THE WISDOM, WE CAN THEN GIVE THE THANKS!!
So if we are faced with cancer, ask God for wisdom (to see the end goal) and then thank Him for the cancer. If we are faced with financial woes, ask God for the wisdom (to see the end goal) , and then THANK Him for the woes. Bankruptcy, spouse or children leaving us, loss of home or job, PERSECUTION…whatever it is, God has a WISE and GOOD plan behind it, and if we will ASK HIM for the wisdom to understand what He is doing, we can give Him THANKS for it!
God saw the temptation that money has on hearts. He saw the lure that awaited me if I had an abundance of money, and so He gave me financial hardships. He guarded my heart from that sin! PRAISE GOD FOR IT and THANK YOU LORD!
Now, if we can just remember this in ALL situations…
James 1:1-5 “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
