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WEEK 27 “ LEARNING TO THANK JESUS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

THANKING HIM IN YOUR TRIAL!


Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18


“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)


Notice in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 that it is God’s will for us to GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES!! That means both the GOOD and the BAD. Sometimes it can be so easy for us to thank Him when everything is going well in our life, but what about when everything is going wrong?


Let’s take a look at a few examples in the bible of thanksgiving to God to see if we can see a pattern!!


1.Philippians 4:6-7 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”


Did you notice in this passage when God wants us to give thanks to Him? Was it BEFORE or AFTER we receive His peace that passes all understanding? Notice God expects us to offer our thanksgiving when we are offering our prayers and petitions, before He gives us His peace, while we are still in the situation that may tempt us to feel anxious!!


2.Jonah 2:9-10 “But I with the voice of THANKSGIVING will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.”


QUESTION: when did Jonah give his song of thanksgiving? Was it after he was delivered out of the fish or while he was still smack bang in the middle of the fish?


Jonah sings a song of thanksgiving WHILE STILL BEING IN THE WHALE for his wrongdoing. He realises that salvation comes from Lord and that irrespective of his circumstance he still had salvation in the Lord!! The Lord is so merciful!!

Notice his song of thanksgiving came before he was delivered out of the whale?


3.John 11:41-44 “So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I THANK YOU that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”


This is the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

And did you notice when our saviour Jesus gave thanks to our Heavenly Father? Was it before or after He did the miracle? Notice He gives thanks before the miracle happened, while Lazarus was still dead in the tomb!!


4.Daniel 6:10 “When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and GAVE THANKS before his God, as he had done previously.”


When the decree had been signed and issued that no-one (especially the Israelites) couldn't worship or pray to God, and had to pray to the king instead (Daniel 6:7-8), Daniel got on His knees and gave thanks to God in prayer just as he always had, even though this very act could get him killed. He thanked the Lord in his trial!


WHAT DID ALL THESE PASSAGES HAVE IN COMMON?

Did you take note that in all these verses, the thanksgiving was given before the miracle and deliverance from God took place, while they were still in the middle of their trial and circumstance?

So often we tend to thank Jesus as a REACTIVE RESPONSE after we have seen Jesus bring His deliverance in our situation! But the challenge is to start learning to thank Him as a PROACTIVE RESPONSE before we see His deliverance!

This requires faith to start thanking Jesus for what our eyes haven’t yet seen!!


Will you start thanking Jesus right now in your trial, in faith for what He is going to do? This is your faith speaking, because we trust God at His word!! You see, living by sight tells us to only thank Jesus after He has delivered us from our trial, because we have seen the end result, but living by faith tells us to thank Him in the very midst of our trial, before He has delivered us, because He never changes, even though our circumstances does, and because we can trust that He is faithful to His word and will deliver us from our trial!!


Thank Him for the PEACE He is about to give you in this trial!! Praise you Jesus!!

Thank Him because no trial or temptation will get the better of us but He will always provide a way out as 1 Corinthians 10:13 says. Thank Him because He is faithful to His word!!

You see it is so easy to thank Jesus when everything is going well, but the hardest thing to do is thank Him in the midst of our trial.


And soon, once you start thanking Him for who He is, the king of kings, thanking Him for being Lord or Lords, thanking Him for His peace and that He is never changing even though our circumstances change, then you soon start to realise How big He is and you realise how small your problem is compared to Him!!


Praise you Jesus!! You are Lord over my storm!!


PRAYER:

Jesus, help me to learn to thank You in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, the GOOD and the BAD!


Amen.




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