Talking about Thankfulness

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I Thessalonians 5:18

I’ve been thinking about thankfulness this week. A few days ago, David told me that he was tired of coughing and having a runny nose. I asked him if he could tell God thank you for his cold, or if that would be hard. We agreed that it is hard to say thank you for bad things that happen to us, simply because we don’t know how good God really is to us. I shared that it’s sometimes hard for me to be thankful to change lots of diapers. In fact, it’s pretty unnatural to say thank you for really bad events, but that seems to be what God is saying. Of course, it’s possible to that the verse means “Give thanks for something when you’re having a crisis.”

Really, though, I can look at David’s cold, which seems so devastating to him right now, and think how blessed he is that a cold is the worst thing that could happen to him. I think that because I understand a little bit more of the big picture of life, I find the challenge to be thankful for a cold a simple one. And yet, when I have a crisis, my understanding is every bit as limited as a child’s, and God is saying, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11) Do I trust his omniscience and goodness, or do I think and act as though I know the whole picture? Seek the Lord. Know Him.

Some of you will be interested to know that Bethel and I told God thank you for helping her go potty twice yesterday (the first success in a long series of disappointing days. I’m praying that God will continue to give me insight into teaching her thankfulness.

Lee and I talked last night that we would start helping the children memorize Psalm 100. It’s one of King David’s best poems, and one of my favorite Psalms. I simply must put the whole thing here, and it can best be appreciated in the KJV.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.Serve the LORD with gladness:
come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations.