By Hope 103.2Thursday 30 May 2024Real Hope – The PodcastPodcastsReading Time: 2 minutes
Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (AMP)
Key points
- We can’t ignore the abundant privileges we experience in the midst, but there are definite ‘circumstances’ people are contending with right now.
- God’s instruction in difficult times is to aim our attention onto Him and our faith, to find delight (great pleasure) in our connection to Him.
- Listen to the Gratitude series and others on Real Hope | The Podcast.
In the last few years, we’ve not been short on difficult circumstances.
Whether it’s the global health crisis, concurrent wars or increasing cost-of-living, we exist in a time where the overarching circumstances in life are not easy.
Of course, we’re all feeling it in different ways, and we can’t ignore the abundant privileges we experience in the midst, but there are definite ‘circumstances’ people are contending with right now.
What’s encouraging about this verse in 1 Thessalonians is that it doesn’t tell us to be happy in those circumstances, it doesn’t tell us to rejoice in the situation, it doesn’t tell us to deny them: it tell us to delight in our FAITH, to commit to prayer, to be thankful to God.
God’s instruction in difficult times is to aim our attention onto Him and our faith, to find delight (great pleasure) in our connection to Him.
God’s instruction in difficult times isn’t to embrace ‘toxic positivity’ or to just ‘suck it up’. His instruction is to aim our attention onto Him and our faith. To find delight (great pleasure) in our connection to Him, i.e., to reorient and to source our joy from our situation to His presence.
Note also, God doesn’t tell us not to attempt to change our circumstance. ‘Thankfulness’ doesn’t equal dejected acceptance. We can, for example, simultaneously be grateful for our job while looking for one better suited, or grateful for our current freedoms while advocating for others.
May thankfulness and an awareness of His presence be your guide today.
Listen to this episode in the player above.
Gratitude is a six-week series inviting listeners to create a habit of gratitude in their lives. Subscribe to the YouVersion plan.
Subscribe to listen to this series and others on Real Hope | The Podcast.
Feature image: Photo by CanvaPro
Episode supplied with thanks to Laura Bennett.
Originally published as ‘We Can Be Thankful Always’ in Real Hope, Jan-Feb 2024.