Wednesday, October 11, 2023

In Everything


“In everything give thanks."  (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB)


In everything. In all things. However, you want to phrase it...

No exceptions. There are none of those phrases we want to add to the end of the verse.

It doesn't say in everything except.......

Except when my back hurts. Or my knee hurts. Or whichever part hurts today.

Except covid.

Except when I lose my job.

Except when I run out of money.

Except politicians. Or government-run health care. Or when I don't like election results.

Except when my friend or my spouse or my son or my daughter or my best friend hurts my feelings.

Except any of the other things you might be able to think of. There are no clarifying phrases at the end of that sentence.

And it doesn’t say except cancer.

I originally wrote this post in 2013. Today I should also add "except strokes". I originally wrote this post before having a stroke had ever entered my mind. Actually, today I would say "even when you have a stroke", because this verse is one of the verses that got me through stroke recover.

And this verse is getting me through my husband’s cancer.

In everything. 

Everything means everything.

It's pretty clear.

Note that the verse doesn't say anything about feeling thankful. This is not about an emotional response to circumstances. The verse says to give thanks. That involves the will. A deliberate choice to give thanks, not because I feel like it but in spite of the fact that sometimes I don't.

Give thanks. In everything.

Today might be a good day to start.

"It may not be well with my circumstances, but it is well with my soul.” (Jennifer Rothchild)

"In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."                           (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB) 

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