Give Thanks in ALL Circumstances (The Verses in the Bible I Hate to Read)
I thought this would be a timely post with Thanksgiving just days away!
My friend Ted came to Dallas to help us prepare for our upcoming Marriage Ministry Conference. While in town, he visited Merge, Watermark's premarital class. On a typical night, I stand in the back and pilot the class, making sure all is going according to plan (i.e. buttons are pushed, leaders lead, teachers teach, and slides and audio work). If I’m not teaching, I’m in 100% pilot/manager mode. I take notes of all the things that can improve and get better.
Ted approached me and said I needed to take two minutes to sit back and just soak it all in. Soak in the fact that 100’s of couples were preparing for marriage and hearing the Gospel. Soak in the fact that life change was happening all around me. I, matter of factly, brushed him off so that I could resume my micromanaging. I am so glad he grabbed my arm and told me again to soak it in: to stop critiquing, and just take a moment and thank God for all the work He was doing in our midst.
For a few minutes I stopped critiquing and started enjoying what God was doing. I watched people laughing, listened to great teaching, and thanked God for the work going on through the Merge ministry.
A few days later, a co-worker came into my office and lovingly challenged me to stop focusing on all of the minor negatives and instead focus on all the great ministry going on at Watermark. In other words… soak it in.
Why is this so hard for me? And I am sure I am not alone in this struggle. Why do I feel the need to consistently enter into management and critique mode? Everything can be better, bigger, more polished and more excellent. It’s never enough and it will never be good enough. For example:
Workouts: Why can’t my times be better, my weights heavier and my # of repetitions higher?
Kids: Playing soccer and being a part of the team isn’t enough. My kids need to score goals, shoot baskets in basketball, and get more assists.
Money: I can never have enough and I always want more money and newer stuff.
A few weeks ago after a crummy workout and lots of frustration, including a thrown jump rope and a few mild under the breath expletives (and maybe one not-so under the breath), I sat down dejected against the wall of the gym. I was tired of losing, coming in last, and struggling in every work out. The word ‘quit’ ran through my brain about a dozen times during this particular workout.
Our workout group has a few key verses we lean on and provide the cornerstone passages we study for our workout group. I looked up and saw these verses on the wall in front of me:
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.
Ugh... I hate these verses. Why? Because Paul’s words in this passage are some of the hardest commands in the whole Bible for me to apply to my life. I can always find a reason to not rejoice, to occupy myself with anything but prayer, and to look for reasons to give thanks in some, but not all, circumstances.
I know for some of you, you are in a season where life makes it tough to "rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances." I’ll be the first to admit it’s a lot easier to rejoice, pray and give thanks when life is going well. However, know that the apostle Paul can relate, and if he can give thanks and rejoice always, then we all can as well.
This Thanksgiving, take some time to be still and some time to rejoice, pray, and give thanks. In other words…. Soak it in.
Thank God for your marriage, your kids, your relationship with the Lord, whatever your blessings might be. I, for one, know I need to apply 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ALL the time, not just during Thanksgiving. But you’ve got to start somewhere, so this Thanksgiving I hope to just let it all soak in.