Give Thanks
Dear Church Family,
God is blessing us with some beautiful spring weather today. After the ice and snow a couple of weeks ago followed by some very wet and dreary days, this is really appreciated. Sometimes, it’s the hard times that make us appreciate the good times. It’s the months of not being able to gather for worship that make us appreciate what a wonderful privilege we have.
I Thessalonians 5:18 says “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” It is easier to give thanks now than it was last fall. Each week we continue to see new faces along with some that we haven’t seen in a long time. We are thankful. Were we thankful when things were at their worst with damaged homes, no electricity for weeks, loss of jobs, kids out of school due to COVID, being told we couldn’t gather for worship in a building that had been built and dedicated for that specific purpose? Were we thankful when the election didn’t go our way? Most of us weren’t. Those were all negative things in our lives. We are not told to be thankful “for” those things, but “in” those things. Whether our situations and circumstances are wonderful or horrible, we are still to give thanks. How? By focusing on the positive, not the negative.
Right now, we could be focusing on some empty seats in our worship services remembering when they used to be full just a year ago. Instead, let’s focus on the seats that are filled. Let’s focus on the 2 ladies who have been baptized and added to the church. Let’s focus on the wonderful services last week and being able to take the Lord’s Supper again. Let’s focus on the goodness of God who brought us through those tough times, is with us and blessing us now and will be with us forever. When we do that, we can give God thanks “in everything” even if we can’t give God thanks “for” everything. It is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.
Hope you have a blessed day and will be with us next Sunday in Bible Study and worship with us at 10:30am and 6:30pm.
GIVE THANKS IN EVERYTHING.
Bro. Alan